HPLC ‐Based Assays for Enzymes of Glutathione Biosynthesis

Elamipretide (SS-31) treatment attenuates age-associated post-translational modifications of heart proteins

It has been demonstrated that elamipretide (SS-31) rescues age-related functional deficits in the heart but the full set of mechanisms behind this have yet to be determined. We investigated the hypothesis that elamipretide influences post-translational modifications to heart proteins. The S-glutathionylation and phosphorylation proteomes of mouse hearts were analyzed using shotgun proteomics to assess the effects of aging on these post-translational modifications and the ability of the mitochondria-targeted drug elamipretide to reverse age-related changes. Aging led to an increase in oxidation of protein thiols demonstrated by increased S-glutathionylation of cysteine residues on proteins from Old (24 months old at the start of the study) mouse hearts compared to Young (5-6 months old). This shift in the oxidation state of the proteome was almost completely reversed by 8 weeks of treatment with elamipretide. Many of the significant changes that occurred were in proteins involved in mitochondrial or cardiac function. We also found changes in the mouse heart phosphoproteome that were associated with age, some of which were partially restored with elamipretide treatment. Parallel reaction monitoring of a subset of phosphorylation sites revealed that the unmodified peptide reporting for Myot S231 increased with age, but not its phosphorylated form and that both phosphorylated and unphosphorylated forms of the peptide covering cMyBP-C S307 increased, but that elamipretide treatment did not affect these changes. These results suggest that changes to thiol redox state and phosphorylation status are two ways in which age may affect mouse heart function, which can be restored by treatment with elamipretide.

Improving mitochondrial function with SS-31 reverses age-related redox stress and improves exercise tolerance in aged mice

Sarcopenia and exercise intolerance are major contributors to reduced quality of life in the elderly for which there are few effective treatments. We tested whether enhancing mitochondrial function and reducing mitochondrial oxidant production with SS-31 (elamipretide) could restore redox balance and improve skeletal muscle function in aged mice. Young (5 mo) and aged (26 mo) female C57BL/6Nia mice were treated for 8-weeks with 3 mg/kg/day SS-31. Mitochondrial function was assessed in vivo using ³¹P and optical spectroscopy. SS-31 reversed age-related decline in maximum mitochondrial ATP production (ATPmax) and coupling of oxidative phosphorylation (P/O). Despite the increased in vivo mitochondrial capacity, mitochondrial protein expression was either unchanged or reduced in the treated aged mice and respiration in permeabilized gastrocnemius (GAS) fibers was not different between the aged and aged+SS-31 mice. Treatment with SS-31 also restored redox homeostasis in the aged skeletal muscle. The glutathione redox status was more reduced and thiol redox proteomics indicated a robust reversal of cysteine S-glutathionylation post-translational modifications across the skeletal muscle proteome. The gastrocnemius in the age+SS-31 mice was more fatigue resistant with significantly greater mass compared to aged controls. This contributed to a significant increase in treadmill endurance compared to both pretreatment and untreated control values. These results demonstrate that the shift of redox homeostasis due to mitochondrial oxidant production in aged muscle is a key factor in energetic defects and exercise intolerance. Treatment with SS-31 restores redox homeostasis, improves mitochondrial quality, and increases exercise tolerance without an increase in mitochondrial content. Since elamipretide is currently in clinical trials these results indicate it may have direct translational value for improving exercise tolerance and quality of life in the elderly.

Mitochondrial-targeted peptide rapidly improves mitochondrial energetics and skeletal muscle performance in aged mice

Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a key pathogenic role in aging skeletal muscle resulting in significant healthcare costs in the developed world. However, there is no pharmacologic treatment to rapidly reverse mitochondrial deficits in the elderly. Here, we demonstrate that a single treatment with the mitochondrial-targeted peptide SS-31 restores in vivo mitochondrial energetics to young levels in aged mice after only one hour. Young (5 month old) and old (27 month old) mice were injected intraperitoneally with either saline or 3 mg kg(-1) of SS-31. Skeletal muscle mitochondrial energetics were measured in vivo one hour after injection using a unique combination of optical and (31) P magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Age-related declines in resting and maximal mitochondrial ATP production, coupling of oxidative phosphorylation (P/O), and cell energy state (PCr/ATP) were rapidly reversed after SS-31 treatment, while SS-31 had no observable effect on young muscle. These effects of SS-31 on mitochondrial energetics in aged muscle were also associated with a more reduced glutathione redox status and lower mitochondrial H2 O2 emission. Skeletal muscle of aged mice was more fatigue resistant in situ one hour after SS-31 treatment, and eight days of SS-31 treatment led to increased whole-animal endurance capacity. These data demonstrate that SS-31 represents a new strategy for reversing age-related deficits in skeletal muscle with potential for translation into human use.

Assessment of glutathione homeostasis

The tripeptide glutathione (γ-glutamylcysteinylglycine; GSH) is the most abundant antioxidant thiol in the brain. GSH plays a critical role in protecting brain cells from oxidative stress and xenobiotics, as well as maintaining the thiol redox state. High levels of GSH are present in the central nervous system, particularly in astrocytes. GSH is synthesized into two enzymatic steps, the first, and the rate-limiting one, is catalyzed by glutamate-cysteine ligase (GCL) to form a dipeptide which is then converted to GSH by GSH synthetase. In this chapter, we describe assays for the measurements of GSH levels and GCL activity. The first spectrophotometric assay is based on the affinity of 2,3-naphthalenedicarboxaldehyde (NDA) for GSH. In the second assay, GSH levels are measured after being derivatized using the fluorescent thiol reactive compound monobromobimane (MBB) and are detected by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The third assay allows the assessment of GCL activity, also by HPLC.

Hydrogen sulfide increases glutathione production and suppresses oxidative stress in mitochondria

Hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) is a synaptic modulator as well as a neuroprotectant in the brain. We recently showed that H(2)S protects neurons from oxidative stress by increasing the levels of glutathione (GSH), a major cellular antioxidant, by more than twice that of a control through enhancing the cystine transport. Here we show that H(2)S enhances the transport of cysteine to increase GSH production more than cystine transport and to redistribute the localization of GSH to mitochondria. The efficiency of GSH production enhanced by H(2)S is even greater by fourfold under oxidative stress by glutamate. H(2)S reinstated GSH levels in the fetal brain decreased by ischemia/reperfusion in utero. In addition, Neuro2a cells expressing a mitochondrial H(2)S-producing enzyme, 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (3MST), along with cysteine aminotransferase (CAT), showed significant resistance to oxidative stress. The present study shows that H(2)S protects cells from oxidative stress by two mechanisms. It enhances the production of GSH by enhancing cystine/cysteine transporters and redistributes GSH to mitochondria. H(2)S produced in mitochondria also may directly suppress oxidative stress. It provides a new mechanism of neuroprotection from oxidative stress by H(2)S.

Muscarinic receptors prevent oxidative stress-mediated apoptosis induced by domoic acid in mouse cerebellar granule cells

In mouse cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs) low concentrations of domoic acid (DomA) induce apoptotic cell death, which is mediated by oxidative stress; apoptosis is more pronounced in CGNs from Gclm (-/-) mice, which lack the modifier subunit of glutamate cysteine ligase (GCL) and have very low GSH levels. By activating M(3) muscarinic receptors, the cholinergic agonist carbachol inhibits DomA-induced apoptosis, and the anti-apoptotic action of carbachol is more pronounced in CGNs from Gclm (+/+) mice. Carbachol does not prevent DomA-induced increase in reactive oxygen species, suggesting that its anti-apoptotic effect is downstream of reactive oxygen species production. Carbachol inhibits DomA-induced activation of Jun N-terminal (JNK) and p38 kinases, increased translocation to mitochondria of the pro-apoptotic protein Bax, and activation of caspase-3. Carbachol activates extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) MAPK and phospahtidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) in CGNs from both genotypes. However, while the protective effect of carbachol is mediated by ERK1/2 MAPK in CGNs from both mouse genotypes, inhibitors of PI3K are only effective at antagonizing the action of carbachol in CGNs from Gclm (+/+) mice. In CGNs from both Gclm (+/+) and (-/-) mice, carbachol induces a MAPK-dependent increase in the level of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. In contrast, carbachol causes a PI3K-dependent increase in GCL activity and of GSH levels only in CGNs from Gclm (+/+) mice. Such increase in GCL is not because of a transcriptionally-mediated increase in glutamate cysteine ligase catalytic subunit or glutamate cysteine ligase modifier subunit, but rather to an increase in the formation of the GCL holoenzyme. The results indicate that multiple pathways may contribute to the protective action of carbachol toward DomA-induced apoptosis. Compromised GCLM expression, which is also found in a common genetic polymorphism in humans, leads to lower GSH levels, which can exacerbate the neurotoxicity of DomA, and decreases the anti-apoptotic effectiveness of muscarinic agonists.

Effects of styrene and styrene oxide on glutathione-related antioxidant enzymes

Styrene is both hepatotoxic and pneumotoxic in mice. Its mode of action is not clear, but it may be related to oxidative stress including a very large decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH). The current studies evaluated if: (1) the more toxic R-styrene oxide had a greater effect on reduced GSH levels than the less toxic S-styrene oxide, (2) the ratio of reduced to oxidized forms of glutathione was altered by styrene or styrene oxide, (3) other enzymes involved in the oxidant status of the cell, namely glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase and gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase were altered, and (4) lipid peroxidation, as measured by the determination of malondialdehyde, increased. R-Styrene oxide (300mg/kg, ip) caused greater decreases in mouse liver and lung GSH than did S-styrene oxide (300mg/kg, ip). Styrene (600mg/kg, ip) caused decreases in both GSH and GSSG in both liver and lung. Styrene and styrene oxide did not cause significant increases in lipid peroxidation in either liver or lung. Styrene and styrene oxide had minimal effects on glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase in liver and lung. Styrene increased gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase activity. The results suggest that while styrene and its metabolite styrene oxide cause significant decreases in GSH levels, they have little effect on the enzymes glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase and that in response to decreased glutathione levels there is an increase in its synthesis via induction of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase activity.

Neurotoxicity of domoic Acid in cerebellar granule neurons in a genetic model of glutathione deficiency

This study investigated the role of cellular antioxidant defense mechanisms in modulating the neurotoxicity of domoic acid (DomA), by using cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs) from mice lacking the modifier subunit of glutamate-cysteine ligase (Gclm). Glutamate-cysteine ligase (Glc) catalyzes the first and rate-limiting step in glutathione (GSH) biosynthesis. CGNs from Gclm (-/-) mice have very low levels of GSH and are 10-fold more sensitive to DomA-induced toxicity than CGNs from Gclm (+/+) mice. GSH ethyl ester decreased, whereas the Gcl inhibitor buthionine sulfoximine increased DomA toxicity. Antagonists of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid/kainate receptors and of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors blocked DomA toxicity, and NMDA receptors were activated by DomA-induced l-glutamate release. The differential susceptibility of CGNs to DomA toxicity was not due to a differential expression of ionotropic glutamate receptors, as evidenced by similar calcium responses and L-glutamate release in the two genotypes. A calcium chelator and several antioxidants antagonized DomA-induced toxicity. DomA caused a rapid decrease in cellular GSH, which preceded toxicity, and the decrease was primarily due to DomA-induced GSH efflux. DomA also caused an increase in oxidative stress as indicated by increases in reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation, which was subsequent to GSH efflux. Astrocytes from both genotypes were resistant to DomA toxicity and presented a diminished calcium response to DomA and a lack of DomA-induced L-glutamate release. Because polymorphisms in the GCLM gene in humans are associated with low GSH levels, such individuals, as well as others with genetic conditions or environmental exposures that lead to GSH deficiency, may be more susceptible to DomA-induced neurotoxicity.