Lactacystin requires reactive oxygen species and Bax redistribution to induce mitochondria‐mediated cell death

• Published in: British journal of pharmacology Vol. 158; no. 4; pp. 1121 - 1130
• Main Authors: Perez‐Alvarez, Sergio, Solesio, Maria E, Manzanares, Jorge, Jordán, Joaquín, Galindo, María F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-10-2009; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Acetylcysteine - analogs & derivatives; Acetylcysteine - pharmacology; Apoptosis - drug effects; Bax; bcl-2-Associated X Protein - genetics; bcl-2-Associated X Protein - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Death - drug effects; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Survival - drug effects; Coloring Agents - metabolism; Cytochromes c - metabolism; Cytosol - metabolism; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Enzyme Inhibitors - pharmacology; glutathione; Green Fluorescent Proteins - metabolism; Humans; Medical sciences; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial - drug effects; mitochondria; Mitochondria, Liver - metabolism; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Nervous system as a whole; Neuroblastoma - metabolism; Neuroblastoma - pathology; Neurology; Parkinson's disease; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; proteasome; reactive oxygen species; Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - metabolism; Research Papers; Tetrazolium Salts - metabolism; Thiazoles - metabolism; Multicatalytic endopeptidase complex; proteasome; Nervous system diseases; Reactive oxygen species; Parkinson's disease; Enzyme; Parkinson disease; Cerebral disorder; Peptidases; Mitochondria; Cell death; Central nervous system disease; Bax; Hydrolases; Degenerative disease; Extrapyramidal syndrome; Glutathione
• ISSN: 0007-1188; 1476-5381
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.2009.00388.x

Background and purpose:  The proteasome inhibitor model of Parkinson's disease (PD) appears to reproduce many of the important behavioural, imaging, pathological and biochemical features of the human disease. However, the mechanisms involved in the lactacystin‐induced, mitochondria‐mediated apoptotic pathway remain poorly defined.
Experimental approach:  We have used lactacystin as a specific inhibitor of the 20S proteasome in the dopaminergic neuroblastoma cell line SH‐SY5Y. We over‐expressed a green fluorescent protein (GFP)–Bax fusion protein in these cells to study localization of Bax. Free radical scavengers were used to assess the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in these pathways.
Key results:  Lactacystin triggered a concentration‐dependent increase in cell death mediated by the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, and induced a change in mitochondrial membrane permeability accompanied by cytochrome c release. The participation of Bax protein was more critical than the formation of the permeability transition pore in mitochondria. GFP–Bax over‐expression demonstrated Bax redistribution from the cytosol to mitochondria after the addition of lactacystin. ROS, but not p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase, participated in lactacystin‐induced mitochondrial Bax translocation. Lactacystin disrupted the intracellular redox state by increasing ROS production and depleting endogenous antioxidant systems such as glutathione (GSH). Pharmacological depletion of GSH, using l‐buthionine sulphoxide, potentiated lactacystin‐induced cell death. Lactacystin sensitized neuroblastoma cells to oxidative damage, induced by subtoxic concentrations of 6‐hydroxydopamine.
Conclusions and implications:  The lactacystin‐induced, mitochondrial‐mediated apoptotic pathway involved interactions between ROS, GSH and Bax. Lactacystin could constitute a potential factor in the development of sporadic PD.