Involvement of oxidative stress in hydroquinone-induced cytotoxicity in catalase-deficient Escherichia coli mutants

Effects of the Quinone Oxidoreductase WrbA on Escherichia coli Biofilm Formation and Oxidative Stress

The effects of natural compounds on biofilm formation have been extensively studied, with the goal of identifying biofilm formation antagonists at sub-lethal concentrations. Salicylic and cinnamic acids are some examples of these compounds that interact with the quinone oxidoreductase WrbA, a potential biofilm modulator and an antibiofilm compound biomarker. However, WrbA’s role in biofilm development is still poorly understood. To investigate the key roles of WrbA in biofilm maturation and oxidative stress, Escherichia coli wild-type and ∆wrbA mutant strains were used. Furthermore, we reported the functional validation of WrbA as a molecular target of salicylic and cinnamic acids. The lack of WrbA did not impair planktonic growth, but rather affected the biofilm formation through a mechanism that depends on reactive oxygen species (ROS). The loss of WrbA function resulted in an ROS-sensitive phenotype that showed reductions in biofilm-dwelling cells, biofilm thickness, matrix polysaccharide content, and H₂O₂ tolerance. Endogenous oxidative events in the mutant strain generated a stressful condition to which the bacterium responded by increasing the catalase activity to compensate for the lack of WrbA. Cinnamic and salicylic acids inhibited the quinone oxidoreductase activity of purified recombinant WrbA. The effects of these antibiofilm molecules on WrbA function was proven for the first time.

Fabrication of an Extremely Cheap Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) Modified Pencil Lead Electrode for Effective Hydroquinone Sensing

Hydroquinone (HQ) is one of the major deleterious metabolites of benzene in the human body, which has been implicated to cause various human diseases. In order to fabricate a feasible sensor for the accurate detection of HQ, we attempted to electrochemically modify a piece of common 2B pencil lead (PL) with the conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) or PEDOT film to construct a PEDOT/PL electrode. We then examined the performance of PEDOT/PL in the detection of hydroquinone with different voltammetry methods. Our results have demonstrated that PEDOT film was able to dramatically enhance the electrochemical response of pencil lead electrode to hydroquinone and exhibited a good linear correlation between anodic peak current and the concentration of hydroquinone by either cyclic voltammetry or linear sweep voltammetry. The influences of PEDOT film thickness, sample pH, voltammetry scan rate, and possible chemical interferences on the measurement of hydroquinone have been discussed. The PEDOT film was further characterized by SEM with EDS and FTIR spectrum, as well as for stability with multiple measurements. Our results have demonstrated that the PEDOT modified PL electrode could be an attractive option to easily fabricate an economical sensor and provide an accurate and stable approach to monitoring various chemicals and biomolecules.

The anticarcinogen activity of β-arbutin on MCF-7 cells: Stimulation of apoptosis through estrogen receptor-α signal pathway, inflammation and genotoxicity

Arbutin is one of the active ingredients employed in cosmetics as a skin whitening agent. In the present study, the possible effects of arbutin on breast cancer were determined with human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cells. α and β-arbutin cytotoxicity levels in MCF-7 cells were determined with the MTT method. At low (1-10 mM) doses, α-arbutin appears to be more toxic than β-arbutin. At higher (5-200 mM) and LD₅₀ doses beta arbutin toxicity appears to be higher than alpha arbutin. Thus, the study was continued with β -arbutin. The effects of low and high doses of β-arbutin was determined on oxidative stress, genotoxicity, inflammation, apoptosis, proliferation, endoplasmic reticulum stress and estrogen receptor-α in MCF-7 cells. The results demonstrated that the β-arbutin doses administered to MCF-7 cells did not affect oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum stress in the experimental groups. However, it was found that administration of LD₅₀ dose β-arbutin induced inflammation in these cells via proinflammatory cytokine levels (TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-1β). It was observed that LD₁₀ and LD₅₀ doses of β-arbutin increased genotoxicity in MCF-7 cells. The gene expression analysis conducted with RT-PCR device and immunocytochemical analysis revealed that β-arbutin at LD₅₀ dose induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells via p53 and Caspase 3. Furthermore, it was determined that all β-arbutin doses inhibited estrogen receptor-α in MCF-7 cells. Considering that arbutin increased the activation of apoptotic Caspase 3 through p53, which was stimulated by genotoxic and inflammatory effects at LD₅₀ dose in MCF-7 cells. Determination of this mechanism behind these effects of β-arbutin may contribute to the development of a new perspective in treatment.

High-level De novo biosynthesis of arbutin in engineered Escherichia coli

Arbutin is a hydroquinone glucoside compound existing in various plants. It is widely used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries owing to its well-known skin-lightening property as well as anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory activities. Currently, arbutin is usually produced by plant extraction or enzymatic processes, which suffer from low product yield and expensive processing cost. In this work, we established an artificial pathway in Escherichia coli for high-level production of arbutin from simple carbon sources. First, a 4-hydroxybenzoate 1-hydroxylase from Candida parapsilosis CBS604 and a glucosyltransferase from Rauvolfia serpentina were characterized by in vitro enzyme assays. Introduction of these two genes into E. coli led to the production of 54.71mg/L of arbutin from glucose. Further redirection of carbon flux into arbutin biosynthesis pathway by enhancing shikimate pathway genes enabled production of 3.29g/L arbutin, which is a 60-fold increase compared with the initial strain. Final optimization of glucose concentration added in the culture medium was able to further improve the titer of arbutin to 4.19g/L in shake flasks experiments, which is around 77-fold higher than that of initial strain. This work established de novo biosynthesis of arbutin from simple carbon sources and provided a generalizable strategy for the biosynthesis of shikimate pathway derived chemicals. The high titer achieved in our engineered strain also indicates the potential for industrial scale bio-manufacturing of arbutin.

Resveratrol inhibited hydroquinone-induced cytotoxicity in mouse primary hepatocytes

Hydroquinone (1,4-benzenediol) has been widely used in clinical situations and the cosmetic industry because of its depigmenting effects. Most skin-lightening hydroquinone creams contain 4%–5% hydroquinone. We have investigated the role of resveratrol in prevention of hydroquinone induced cytotoxicity in mouse primary hepatocytes. We found that 400 µM hydroquinone exposure alone induced apoptosis of the cells and also resulted in a significant drop of cell viability compared with the control, and pretreatment of resveratrol to a final concentration of 0.5 mM 1 h before hydroquinone exposure did not show a significant improvement in the survival rate of the hepatocytes, however, relatively higher concentrations of resveratrol (≥1 mM) inhibited apoptosis of the mouse primary hepatocytes and increased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, and in particular the survival rate of the hepatocytes was recovered from 28% to near 100% by 5 mM resveratrol. Interestingly, pretreatment with resveratrol for longer time (24 h), even in very low concentrations (50 µM, 100 µM), blocked the damage of hydroquinone to the cells. We also observed that resveratrol pretreatment suppressed hydroquinone-induced expression of cytochrome P450 2E1 mRNA dose-dependently. The present study suggests that resveratrol protected the cells against hydroquinone-induced toxicity through its antioxidant function and possibly suppressive effect on the expression of cytochrome P450 2E1.

Evaluation of anti-oxidant treatments in an in vitro model of alkaptonuric ochronosis

OBJECTIVES

Alkaptonuria (AKU) is a rare genetic disease associated with deficient homogentisate 1,2-dioxygenase activity in the liver. This leads to the accumulation of homogentisic acid (HGA) and its oxidized/polymerized products in connective tissues, which in turn become characterized by the presence of melanin-like pigments (ochronosis). Since at present, further studies are necessary to support the use of drugs for the treatment of AKU, we investigated the effects of various anti-oxidants in counteracting melanin-like pigmentation and oxidative stress related to HGA and its metabolites.

METHODS

We set up an in vitro model using human serum treated with 0.33 mM HGA and tested the anti-oxidants ascorbic acid, N-acetylcysteine, phytic acid (PHY), taurine (TAU), ferulic acid (FER) and lipoic acid (LIP) for their ability to prevent or delay the production of melanin-like pigments, as well as to reduce oxidative post-translational modifications of proteins. Monitoring of intrinsic fluorescence of HGA-induced melanin-like pigments was used to evaluate the efficacy of compounds.

RESULTS

Our model allowed us to prove efficacy especially for PHY, TAU, LIP and FER in counteracting the production of HGA-induced melanin-like pigments and protein oxidation induced by HGA and its metabolites.

CONCLUSIONS

Our model allows the opening of new anti-oxidant therapeutic strategies to treat alkaptonuric ochronosis.

Evaluation of pyrogallol-induced cytotoxicity in catalase-mutant escherichia coli and mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium

We evaluated pyrogallol cytotoxicity using Escherichia coli strains that express mammalian catalase gene derived from catalase mutant mice (Cs(b)) and wild-type (Cs(a)), and pyrogallol mutagenicity by Ames test. Pyrogallol was more toxic to Cs(b) rather than to Cs(a) (p < 0.05), while catalase, superoxide dismutase and ascorbic acid decrease the toxic effect. Pyrogallol also showed mutagenic effect (mutagenic index = 3.8 for 10 micromol pyrogallol/plate) while ascorbic acid (19.4% reduction, p < 0.001) and naringin (35.1% reduction, p < 0.001) played a protective role against it. Pyrogallol cytotoxicity and mutagenicity seem to be attributable, at least in part, to reactive oxygen species formation. This study also suggests that newly established catalase mutant E. coli is probably useful in hazard identification of oxidative chemicals.

Cytotoxicity of lawsone and cytoprotective activity of antioxidants in catalase mutant Escherichia coli

Lawsone is an active naphthoquinone derivative isolated from henna (Lawsonia inermis L.), a widely used hair dye. Previous study on the toxicity of lawsone remains unclear since the involvement of oxidative stress and the kind of ROS (reactive oxygen species) involved have not been fully resolved yet. This present study reports the cytotoxic effects of lawsone and henna. We carried out CAT assay (a zone of inhibition test of bacterial growth and colony-forming efficiency test of transformant Escherichia coli strains that express mammalian catalase gene derived from normal catalase mice (Cs(a)) and catalase-deficient mutant mice (Cs(b))), Ames mutagenicity assay and H(2)O(2) generation assay. Lawsone generated H(2)O(2) slightly in phosphate buffer system and was not mutagenic in Ames assay using TA 98, TA 100 and TA 102, both in the absence and presence of metabolic activation. Lawsone exposure inhibited the growth of both Cs(a) and Cs(b) strains in a dose-dependent manner. Mean zone diameter for Cs(a) was 9.75+/-0.96 mm and 12.75+/-1.5 mm for Cs(b). Natural henna leaves did not show toxic effects, whereas two out of four samples of marketed henna products were shown toxicity effects. Catalase abolished zone of inhibition (ZOI) of marketed henna products, eliminated ZOI of lawsone in a dose-dependent manner and low concentration of exogenous MnSOD and Cu/ZnSOD eliminated the toxicity. Histidine and DTPA, the metal chelator; BHA and low concentration of capsaicin, the inducer of NADH-quinone reductase, effectively protected Cs(a) and Cs(b) against lawsone in this study. We suggest that lawsone cytotoxicity is probably mediated, at least in part, by the release of O(2)(-), H(2)O(2) and OH(-).