Antineoplastic effects of sodium dichloroacetate and omeprazole, alone or in combination, on canine oral mucosal melanoma cells

Oral mucosal melanoma (OMM) is a common neoplasm in canines, although it is rare in humans. Cancer cells present alterations in energetic metabolism, and the Warburg effect states that most cancer cells undergo aerobic glycolysis. This can be reversed by certain drugs, resulting in decreased cell viability and cell death. We sought to evaluate the effects of sodium dichloroacetate (DCA) and omeprazole (OMP) alone or in combination on canine OMM and human melanoma cells. CMGD5 and SK-MEL-28 cell lines were treated with DCA and OMP alone or in combination, and cell viability was assessed using the crystal violet assay. Cell death (apoptosis and necrosis) was assessed by Annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) staining assays using flow cytometry. In addition, the oxygen consumption rate (OCR) was evaluated using a SeaHorse XF assay. Treatment with DCA or OMP alone resulted in a significant, but not dose-dependent, reduction in cell viability in both cell lines; however, the combination of DCA and OMP resulted in a significant and dose-dependent decrease in viability in both cell lines. DCA and OMP, alone or in combination, did not alter OCR at the concentrations tested in either cell line. Since the combination of DCA and OMP potentialized the inhibition of viability and increased cell death in a synergistic manner in melanoma cells, this approach may represent a new repurposing strategy to treat cancer.

A systematic evaluation of normalization methods and probe replicability using infinium EPIC methylation data

BACKGROUND

The Infinium EPIC array measures the methylation status of > 850,000 CpG sites. The EPIC BeadChip uses a two-array design: Infinium Type I and Type II probes. These probe types exhibit different technical characteristics which may confound analyses. Numerous normalization and pre-processing methods have been developed to reduce probe type bias as well as other issues such as background and dye bias.

METHODS

This study evaluates the performance of various normalization methods using 16 replicated samples and three metrics: absolute beta-value difference, overlap of non-replicated CpGs between replicate pairs, and effect on beta-value distributions. Additionally, we carried out Pearson's correlation and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) analyses using both raw and SeSAMe 2 normalized data.

RESULTS

The method we define as SeSAMe 2, which consists of the application of the regular SeSAMe pipeline with an additional round of QC, pOOBAH masking, was found to be the best performing normalization method, while quantile-based methods were found to be the worst performing methods. Whole-array Pearson's correlations were found to be high. However, in agreement with previous studies, a substantial proportion of the probes on the EPIC array showed poor reproducibility (ICC < 0.50). The majority of poor performing probes have beta values close to either 0 or 1, and relatively low standard deviations. These results suggest that probe reliability is largely the result of limited biological variation rather than technical measurement variation. Importantly, normalizing the data with SeSAMe 2 dramatically improved ICC estimates, with the proportion of probes with ICC values > 0.50 increasing from 45.18% (raw data) to 61.35% (SeSAMe 2).

The Many Roles Mitochondria Play in Mammalian Aging

Significance: Aging is a natural process that affects most living organisms, resulting in increased mortality. As the world population ages, the prevalence of age-associated diseases, and their associated health care costs, has increased sharply. A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms that lead to cellular dysfunction may provide important targets for interventions to prevent or treat these diseases. Recent Advances: Although the mitochondrial theory of aging had been proposed more than 40 years ago, recent new data have given stronger support for a central role for mitochondrial dysfunction in several pathways that are deregulated during normal aging and age-associated disease. Critical Issues: Several of the experimental evidence linking mitochondrial alterations to age-associated loss of function are correlative and mechanistic insights are still elusive. Here, we review how mitochondrial dysfunction may be involved in many of the known hallmarks of aging, and how these pathways interact in an intricate net of molecular relationships. Future Directions: As it has become clear that mitochondrial dysfunction plays causative roles in normal aging and age-associated diseases, it is necessary to better define the molecular interactions and the temporal and causal relationship between these changes and the relevant phenotypes seen during the aging process. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 36, 824-843.

Increased H2O2 levels and p53 stabilization lead to mitochondrial dysfunction in XPC-deficient cells

XPC deficiency is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, increased mitochondrial H2O2 production and sensitivity to the Complex III inhibitor antimycin A (AA), through a yet unclear mechanism. We found an imbalanced expression of several proteins that participate in important mitochondrial function and increased expression and phosphorylation of the tumor suppressor p53 in Xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group C (XP-C) (XPC-null) cells compared with an isogenic line corrected in locus with wild-type XPC (XPC-wt). Interestingly, inhibition of p53 nuclear import reversed the overexpression of mitochondrial proteins, whereas AA treatment increased p53 expression more strongly in the XP-C cells. However, inhibition of p53 substantially increased XP-C cellular sensitivity to AA treatment, suggesting that p53 is a critical factor mediating the cellular response to mitochondrial stress. On the other hand, treatment with the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine increased glutathione concentration and decreased basal H2O2 production, p53 levels and sensitivity to AA treatment in the XPC-null back to the levels found in XPC-wt cells. Thus, the results suggest a critical role for mitochondrially generated H2O2 in the regulation of p53 expression, which in turn modulates XP-C sensitivity to agents that cause mitochondrial stress.

Opposing action of NCoR1 and PGC-1α in mitochondrial redox homeostasis

The ability to respond to fluctuations of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within the cell is a central aspect of mammalian physiology. This dynamic process depends on the coordinated action of transcriptional factors to promote the expression of genes encoding for antioxidant enzymes. Here, we demonstrate that the transcriptional coregulators, PGC-1α and NCoR1, are essential mediators of mitochondrial redox homeostasis in skeletal muscle cells. Our findings reveal an antagonistic role of these coregulators in modulating mitochondrial antioxidant induction through Sod2 transcriptional control. Importantly, the activation of this mechanism by either PGC-1α overexpression or NCoR1 knockdown attenuates mitochondrial ROS levels and prevents cell death caused by lipid overload in skeletal muscle cells. The opposing actions of coactivators and corepressors, therefore, exert a commanding role over cellular antioxidant capacity.

Where do we aspire to publish? A position paper on scientific communication in biochemistry and molecular biology

The scientific publication landscape is changing quickly, with an enormous increase in options and models. Articles can be published in a complex variety of journals that differ in their presentation format (online-only or in-print), editorial organizations that maintain them (commercial and/or society-based), editorial handling (academic or professional editors), editorial board composition (academic or professional), payment options to cover editorial costs (open access or pay-to-read), indexation, visibility, branding, and other aspects. Additionally, online submissions of non-revised versions of manuscripts prior to seeking publication in a peer-reviewed journal (a practice known as pre-printing) are a growing trend in biological sciences. In this changing landscape, researchers in biochemistry and molecular biology must re-think their priorities in terms of scientific output dissemination. The evaluation processes and institutional funding for scientific publications should also be revised accordingly. This article presents the results of discussions within the Department of Biochemistry, University of São Paulo, on this subject.

p53-Dependent and p53-Independent Responses of Cells Challenged by Photosensitization

The p53 protein exerts fundamental roles in cell responses to a variety of stress stimuli. It has clear roles in controlling cell cycle, triggering apoptosis, activating autophagy and modulating DNA damage response. Little is known about the role of p53 in autophagy-associated cell death, which can be induced by photoactivation of photosensitizers within cells. The photosensitizer 1,9-dimethyl methylene blue (DMMB) within nanomolar concentration regimes has specific intracellular targets (mitochondria and lysosomes), photoinducing a typical scenario of cell death with autophagy. Importantly, in consequence of its subcellular localization, photoactive DMMB induces selective damage to mitochondrial DNA, saving nuclear DNA. By challenging cells having different p53 protein levels, we investigated whether p53 modulates DMMB/light-induced phototoxicity and cell cycle dynamics. Cells lacking p53 activity were slightly more resistant to photoactivated DMMB, which was correlated with a smaller sub-G1 population, indicative of a lower level of apoptosis. DMMB photosensitization seems to induce mostly autophagy-associated cell death and S-phase cell cycle arrest with replication stress. Remarkably, these responses were independent on the p53 status, indicating that p53 is not involved in either process. Despite describing some p53-related responses in cells challenged by photosensitization, our results also provide novel information on the consequences of DMMB phototoxicity.

Cardiolipin is a key determinant for mtDNA stability and segregation during mitochondrial stress

Mitochondria play a key role in adaptation during stressing situations. Cardiolipin, the main anionic phospholipid in mitochondrial membranes, is expected to be a determinant in this adaptive mechanism since it modulates the activity of most membrane proteins. Here, we used Saccharomyces cerevisiae subjected to conditions that affect mitochondrial metabolism as a model to determine the possible role of cardiolipin in stress adaptation. Interestingly, we found that thermal stress promotes a 30% increase in the cardiolipin content and modifies the physical state of mitochondrial membranes. These changes have effects on mtDNA stability, adapting cells to thermal stress. Conversely, this effect is cardiolipin-dependent since a cardiolipin synthase-null mutant strain is unable to adapt to thermal stress as observed by a 60% increase of cells lacking mtDNA (ρ0). Interestingly, we found that the loss of cardiolipin specifically affects the segregation of mtDNA to daughter cells, leading to a respiratory deficient phenotype after replication. We also provide evidence that mtDNA physically interacts with cardiolipin both in S. cerevisiae and in mammalian mitochondria. Overall, our results demonstrate that the mitochondrial lipid cardiolipin is a key determinant in the maintenance of mtDNA stability and segregation.

Mitochondria as a source of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species: from molecular mechanisms to human health

Mitochondrially generated reactive oxygen species are involved in a myriad of signaling and damaging pathways in different tissues. In addition, mitochondria are an important target of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. Here, we discuss basic mechanisms of mitochondrial oxidant generation and removal and the main factors affecting mitochondrial redox balance. We also discuss the interaction between mitochondrial reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, and the involvement of these oxidants in mitochondrial diseases, cancer, neurological, and cardiovascular disorders.

Nutrient-sensitive mitochondrial NAD+ levels dictate cell survival

A major cause of cell death caused by genotoxic stress is thought to be due to the depletion of NAD(+) from the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Here we show that NAD(+) levels in mitochondria remain at physiological levels following genotoxic stress and can maintain cell viability even when nuclear and cytoplasmic pools of NAD(+) are depleted. Rodents fasted for 48 hr show increased levels of the NAD(+) biosynthetic enzyme Nampt and a concomitant increase in mitochondrial NAD(+). Increased Nampt provides protection against cell death and requires an intact mitochondrial NAD(+) salvage pathway as well as the mitochondrial NAD(+)-dependent deacetylases SIRT3 and SIRT4. We discuss the relevance of these findings to understanding how nutrition modulates physiology and to the evolution of apoptosis.

Mitochondrial DNA damage associated with lipid peroxidation of the mitochondrial membrane induced by Fe2+-citrate

Iron imbalance/accumulation has been implicated in oxidative injury associated with many degenerative diseases such as hereditary hemochromatosis, beta-thalassemia, and Friedreich's ataxia. Mitochondria are particularly sensitive to iron-induced oxidative stress - high loads of iron cause extensive lipid peroxidation and membrane permeabilization in isolated mitochondria. Here we detected and characterized mitochondrial DNA damage in isolated rat liver mitochondria exposed to a Fe2+-citrate complex, a small molecular weight complex. Intense DNA fragmentation was induced after the incubation of mitochondria with the iron complex. The detection of 3' phosphoglycolate ends at the mtDNA strand breaks by a 32P-postlabeling assay, suggested the involvement of hydroxyl radical in the DNA fragmentation induced by Fe2+-citrate. Increased levels of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine also suggested that Fe2+-citrate-induced oxidative stress causes mitochondrial DNA damage. In conclusion, our results show that iron-mediated lipid peroxidation was associated with intense mtDNA damage derived from the direct attack of reactive oxygen species.

Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA-repair capacity of various brain regions in mouse is altered in an age-dependent manner

Aging is associated with increased susceptibility to neuronal loss and disruption of cerebral function either as a component of senescence, or as a consequence of neurodegenerative disease or stroke. Here we report differential changes in the repair of oxidative DNA damage in various brain regions during aging. We evaluated mitochondrial and nuclear incision activities of oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (OGG1), uracil DNA glycosylase (UDG) and the endonuclease III homologue (NTH1) in the caudate nucleus (CN), frontal cortex (FC), hippocampus (Hip), cerebellum (CE) and brain stem (BS) of 6- and 18-month-old male C57Bl/6 mice. We observed a significant age-dependent decrease in incision activities of all three glycosylases in the mitochondria of all brain regions, whereas variable patterns of changes were seen in nuclei. No age- or region-specific changes were observed in the mitochondrial repair synthesis incorporation of uracil-initiated base-excision repair (BER). We did not observe any age or region dependent differences in levels of BER proteins among the five brain regions. In summary, our data suggest that a decreased efficiency of mitochondrial BER-glycosylases and increased oxidative damage to mitochondrial DNA might contribute to the normal aging process. These data provide a novel characterization of oxidative DNA damage processing in different brain regions implicated in various neurodegenerative disorders, and suggest that this process is regulated in an age-dependent manner. Manipulation of DNA repair mechanisms may provide a strategy to prevent neuronal loss during age-dependent neurodegenerative disorders.

DNA base excision repair activities and pathway function in mitochondrial and cellular lysates from cells lacking mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) contains higher steady-state levels of oxidative damage and mutates at rates significantly greater than nuclear DNA. Oxidative lesions in mtDNA are removed by a base excision repair (BER) pathway. All mtDNA repair proteins are nuclear encoded and imported. Most mtDNA repair proteins so far discovered are either identical to nuclear DNA repair proteins or isoforms of nuclear proteins arising from differential splicing. Regulation of mitochondrial BER is therefore not expected to be independent of nuclear BER, though the extent to which mitochondrial BER is regulated with respect to mtDNA amount or damage is largely unknown. Here we have measured DNA BER activities in lysates of mitochondria isolated from human 143B TK(-) osteosarcoma cells that had been depleted of mtDNA (rho(0)) or not (wt). Despite the total absence of mtDNA in the rho(0) cells, a complete mitochondrial BER pathway was present, as demonstrated using an in vitro assay with synthetic oligonucleotides. Measurement of individual BER protein activities in mitochondrial lysates indicated that some BER activities are insensitive to the lack of mtDNA. Uracil and 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase activities were relatively insensitive to the absence of mtDNA, only about 25% reduced in rho(0) relative to wt cells. Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease and polymerase gamma activities were more affected, 65 and 45% lower, respectively, in rho(0) mitochondria. Overall BER activity in lysates was also about 65% reduced in rho(0) mitochondria. To identify the limiting deficiencies in BER of rho(0) mitochondria we supplemented the BER assay of mitochondrial lysates with pure uracil DNA glycosylase, AP endonuclease and/or the catalytic subunit of polymerase gamma. BER activity was stimulated by addition of uracil DNA glycosylase and polymerase gamma. However, no addition or combination of additions stimulated BER activity to wt levels. This suggests that an unknown activity, factor or interaction important in BER is deficient in rho(0) mitochondria. While nuclear BER protein levels and activities were generally not altered in rho(0) cells, AP endonuclease activity was substantially reduced in nuclear and in whole cell extracts. This appeared to be due to reduced endogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in rho(0) cells, and not a general dysfunction of rho(0) cells, as exposure of cells to ROS rapidly stimulated increases in AP endonuclease activities and APE1 protein levels.

Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA base excision repair are affected differently by caloric restriction

Aging is strongly correlated with the accumulation of oxidative damage in DNA, particularly in mitochondria. Oxidative damage to both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA is repaired by the base excision repair (BER) pathway. The "mitochondrial theory of aging" suggests that aging results from declining mitochondrial function, due to high loads of damage and mutation in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Restriction of caloric intake is the only intervention so far proven to slow the aging rate. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying such effects are still unclear. We used caloric-restricted (CR) mice to investigate whether lifespan extension is associated with changes in mitochondrial BER activities. Mice were divided into two groups, receiving 100% (PF) or 60% (CR) of normal caloric intake, a regime that extends mean lifespan by approximately 40% in CR mice. Mitochondria isolated from CR mice had slightly higher uracil (UDG) and oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (OGG1) activities but marginally lower abasic endonuclease and polymerase gamma gap-filling activities, although these differences were tissue-specific. Uracil-initiated BER synthesis incorporation activities were significantly lower in brain and kidney from CR mice but marginally enhanced in liver. However, nuclear repair synthesis activities were increased by CR, indicating differential regulation of BER in the two compartments. The results indicate that a general up-regulation of mitochondrial BER does not occur in CR.

Age-associated increase in 8-oxo-deoxyguanosine glycosylase/AP lyase activity in rat mitochondria

The mitochondrial theory of aging postulates that organisms age due to the accumulation of DNA damage and mutations in the multiple mitochondrial genomes, leading to mitochondrial dysfunction. Among the wide variety of DNA damage, 8-oxo-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo-dG) has received the most attention due to its mutagenicity and because of the possible correlation between its accumulation and pathological processes like cancer, degenerative diseases and aging. Although still controversial, many studies show that 8-oxo-dG accumulates with age in the mitochondrial (mt) DNA. However, little is known about the processing of this lesion and no study has yet examined whether mtDNA repair changes with age. Here, we report the first study on age-related changes in mtDNA repair, accomplished by assessing the cleavage activity of mitochondrial extracts towards an 8-oxo-dG-containing substrate. In this study, mitochondria obtained from rat heart and liver were used. We find that this enzymatic activity is higher in 12 and 23 month-old rats than in 6 month-old rats, in both liver and heart extracts. These mitochondrial extracts also cleave oligonucleotides containing a U:A mismatch, at the uracil position, reflecting the combined action of mitochondrial uracil DNA glycosylase (mtUDG) and mitochondrial apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonucleases. The mtUDG activity did not change with age in liver mitochondria, but there was a small increase in activity from 6 to 23 months in rat heart extracts, after normalization to citrate synthase activity. Endonuclease G activity, measured by a plasmid relaxation assay, did not show any age-associated change in liver, but there was a significant decrease from 6 to 23 months in heart mitochondria. Our results suggest that the mitochondrial capacity to repair 8-oxo-dG, the main oxidative base damage suggested to accumulate with age in mtDNA, does not decrease, but rather increases with age. The specific increase in 8-oxo-dG endonuclease activity, rather than a general up-regulation of DNA repair in mitochondria, suggests an induction of the 8-oxo-dG-specific repair pathway with age.

Age-associated change in mitochondrial DNA damage

There is an age-associated decline in the mitochondrial function of the Wistar rat heart. Previous reports from this lab have shown a decrease in mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity associated with a reduction in COX gene and protein expression and a similar decrease in the rate of mitochondrial protein synthesis. Damage to mitochondrial DNA may contribute to this decline. Using the HPLC-Coularray system (ESA, USA), we measured levels of nuclear and mitochondrial 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) from 6-month (young) and 23-month-old (senescent) rat liver DNA. We measured the sensitivity of the technique by damaging calf thymus DNA with photoactivated methylene blue for 30s up to 2h. The levels of damage were linear over the entire time course including the shorter times which showed levels comparable to those expected in liver. For the liver data, 8-oxodG was reported as a fraction of 2-deoxyguanosine (2-dG). There was no change in the levels of 8-oxodG levels in the nuclear DNA from 6 to 23-months of age. However, the levels of 8-oxodG increased 2.5-fold in the mitochondrial DNA with age. At 6 months, the level of 8-oxodG in mtDNA was 5-fold higher than nuclear and increased to approximately 12-fold higher by 23 months of age. These findings agree with other reports showing an age-associated increase in levels of mtDNA damage; however, the degree to which it increases is smaller. Such damage to the mitochondrial DNA may contribute to the age-associated decline in mitochondrial function.