scholarly journals A novel SOD1-dependent mechanism for the iron-induced production of toxic SOD1 and oxidative stress that initiates ALS

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Zhong Lim ◽  
Jianxing Song

Free iron is highly toxic and the blood-derived iron initiates early motor-neuron degeneration upon breakdown of blood-spinal cord barrier. Iron is currently known to trigger oxidative stress by Fenton chemistry but no report implies that iron manifests its toxicity through CuZn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1), the central antioxidant enzyme in all human tissues that carries >180 ALS-causing mutations. Here, by NMR we show that Zn2+ play an irreplaceable role in the maturation of the nascent hSOD1, and further decipher for the first time that out of 11 other cations only Fe2+ has the Zn2+-like capacity to induce folding to form the Fe2+-bound hSOD1. This acts to reduce or even block the maturation of wild-type and ALS-causing mutant hSOD1, consequently trapping SOD1 in toxic forms and provoking oxidative stress. Our study establishes a novel SOD1-dependent mechanism for iron to manifest cellular toxicity that contributes to pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, aging and even more.

2001 ◽  
Vol 67 (10) ◽  
pp. 4454-4457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Ferreira ◽  
Conor P. O'Byrne ◽  
Kathryn J. Boor

ABSTRACT To determine the contribution of sigma B (ςB) to survival of stationary-phase Listeria monocytogenescells following exposure to environmental stresses, we compared the viability of strain 10403S with that of an isogenic nonpolarsigB null mutant strain after exposure to heat (50°C), ethanol (16.5%), or acid (pH 2.5). Strain viabilities were also determined under the same conditions in cultures that had been previously exposed to sublethal levels of the same stresses (45°C, 5% ethanol, or pH 4.5). The ΔsigB and wild-type strains had similar viabilities following exposure to ethanol and heat, but the ΔsigB strain was almost 10,000-fold more susceptible to lethal acid stress than its parent strain. However, a 1-h preexposure to pH 4.5 yielded a 1,000-fold improvement in viability for the ΔsigB strain. These results suggest the existence in L. monocytogenes of both a ςB-dependent mechanism and a pH-dependent mechanism for acid resistance in the stationary phase. ςB contributed to resistance to both oxidative stress and carbon starvation inL. monocytogenes. The ΔsigB strain was 100-fold more sensitive to 13.8 mM cumene hydroperoxide than the wild-type strain. Following glucose depletion, the ΔsigB strain lost viability more rapidly than the parent strain. ςB contributions to viability during carbon starvation and to acid resistance and oxidative stress resistance support the hypothesis that ςB plays a role in protecting L. monocytogenes against environmental adversities.


2006 ◽  
Vol 273 (1592) ◽  
pp. 1407-1414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Kurtz ◽  
K. Mathias Wegner ◽  
Martin Kalbe ◽  
Thorsten B.H Reusch ◽  
Helmut Schaschl ◽  
...  

Individual variation in the susceptibility to infection may result from the varying ability of hosts to specifically recognize different parasite strains. Alternatively, there could be individual host differences in fitness costs of immune defence. Although, these two explanations are not mutually exclusive, they have so far been treated in separate experimental approaches. To analyse potential relationships, we studied body condition and oxidative stress, which may reflect costs of immunity, in three-spined sticklebacks that had been experimentally exposed to three species of naturally occurring parasite. These sticklebacks differed in a trait, which is crucial to specific parasite defence, i.e. individual genetic diversity at major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class IIB loci. Oxidative stress was quantified as tissue acrolein, a technique that has been applied to questions of immuno-ecology for the first time. We measured gene expression at the MHC and other estimates of immune activation. We found that fish with high levels of MHC expression had poor condition and elevated oxidative stress. These results indicate that MHC-based specific immunity is connected with oxidative stress. They could, thus, also be relevant in the broader context of the evolution of sexually selected signals that are based on carotenoids and are, thus supposed to reflect oxidative stress resistance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Huang ◽  
Gang Wang ◽  
Zhan Zhou ◽  
Zhengshan Tang ◽  
Ningning Zhang ◽  
...  

The gasotransmitter H2S is involved in various physiological and pathophysiological processes. The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological functions of H2S in the lungs. In the model of mouse with genetic deficiency in a H2S natural synthesis enzyme cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE), we found that arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) was decreased compared with wild type mice. Hypoxyprobe test showed that mild hypoxia occurred in the tissues of heart, lungs and kidneys in Cse-/- mice. H2S donor GYY4137 treatment increased SaO2 and ameliorated hypoxia state in cardiac and renal tissues. Further, we revealed that lung blood perfusion and airway responsiveness were not linked to reduced SaO2 level. Lung injury was found in Cse-/- mice as evidenced by alveolar wall thickening, diffuse interstitial edema and leukocyte infiltration in pulmonary tissues. IL-8, IL-1β, and TNF-α levels were markedly increased and oxidative stress levels were also significantly higher with increased levels of the pro-oxidative biomarker, MDA, decreased levels of the anti-oxidative biomarkers, T-AOC and GSH/GSSG, and reduced superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in lung tissues of Cse-/- mice compared with those of wild type mice. GYY4137 treatment ameliorated lung injury and suppressed inflammatory state and oxidative stress in lung tissues of Cse-/- mice. A decrease in SaO2 was found in normal mice under hypoxia. These mice displayed lung injury as evidenced by alveolar wall thickening, interstitial edema and leukocyte infiltration. Increased levels of inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress were also found in lung tissues of the mice with hypoxia insult. GYY4137 treatment increased SaO2 and ameliorated lung injury, inflammation and oxidative stress. Our data indicate that endogenous H2S is an important factor in maintaining normal SaO2 by preventing oxidative stress and inflammation in the lungs.


2011 ◽  
Vol 301 (5) ◽  
pp. R1400-R1407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Larkin ◽  
Carol S. Davis ◽  
Catrina Sims-Robinson ◽  
Tatiana Y. Kostrominova ◽  
Holly Van Remmen ◽  
...  

An association between oxidative stress and muscle atrophy and weakness in vivo is supported by elevated oxidative damage and accelerated loss of muscle mass and force with aging in CuZn-superoxide dismutase-deficient ( Sod1−/−) mice. The purpose was to determine the basis for low specific force (N/cm2) of gastrocnemius muscles in Sod1−/− mice and establish the extent to which structural and functional changes in muscles of Sod1−/− mice resemble those associated with normal aging. We tested the hypothesis that muscle weakness in Sod1−/− mice is due to functionally denervated fibers by comparing forces during nerve and direct muscle stimulation. No differences were observed for wild-type mice at any age in the forces generated in response to nerve and muscle stimulation. Nerve- and muscle-stimulated forces were also not different for 4-wk-old Sod1−/− mice, whereas, for 8- and 20-mo-old mice, forces during muscle stimulation were 16 and 30% greater, respectively, than those obtained using nerve stimulation. In addition to functional evidence of denervation with aging, fiber number was not different for Sod1−/− and wild-type mice at 4 wk, but 50% lower for Sod1−/− mice by 20 mo, and denervated motor end plates were prevalent in Sod1−/− mice at both 8 and 20 mo and in WT mice by 28 mo. The data suggest ongoing denervation in muscles of Sod1−/− mice that results in fiber loss and muscle atrophy. Moreover, the findings support using Sod1−/− mice to explore mechanistic links between oxidative stress and the progression of deficits in muscle structure and function.


2008 ◽  
Vol 295 (2) ◽  
pp. E323-E330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Tikellis ◽  
Merlin C. Thomas ◽  
Brooke E. Harcourt ◽  
Melinda T. Coughlan ◽  
Josepha Pete ◽  
...  

A diet high in fat induces cardiac hypertrophy, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Although such actions have largely been ascribed to fat deposition, the accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and subsequent activation of the receptor for AGEs (RAGE) may also represent important mediators of cardiac injury following exposure to a Western diet. In this study, male C57BL6J and RAGE knockout mice were placed on either a standard diet (7% fat) or a Western “fast-food” diet (21% fat). Animals receiving a high-fat diet were further randomized to receive the AGE inhibitor alagebrium chloride (1 mg·kg−1·day−1) and followed for 16 wk. A Western diet was associated with cardiac hypertrophy, inflammation, mitochondrial-dependent superoxide production, and cardiac AGE accumulation in wild-type mice. Although RAGE-KO mice fed a Western diet also became obese and accumulated intramyocardial lipid, cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, inflammation, and oxidative stress were attenuated compared with wild-type mice. Similarly, mice of both strains receiving alagebrium chloride had reduced levels of inflammation and oxidative stress, in association with a reduction in cardiac AGEs and RAGE. This study suggests that AGEs represent important mediators of cardiac injury associated with a Western fast-food diet. These data point to the potential utility of AGE-reducing strategies in the prevention and management of cardiac disease.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0245474
Author(s):  
Thi Thanh Huong Pham ◽  
Wan-Ying Huang ◽  
Chang-Shi Chen ◽  
Wen-Tai Chiu ◽  
Han-Sheng Chuang

Antioxidant uptake and regular exercise are two well-acknowledged measures used for rejuvenation and oxidative stress elimination. Previous studies have revealed that moderate exercise mildly increases intracellular signaling oxidant levels and strengthens the ability of an organism to deal with escalating oxidative stress by upregulating antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase. Antioxidant supplementation directly scavenges intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) to reduce oxidative stress. However, research to understand the impacts of these enzymes on mitigating oxidative stress from the perspective of simple animals is limited. Herein, we show that exercise combined with antioxidant supplementation ameliorates the physiological phenotypes and markers of aging in wild-type and SOD/CAT-deficient Caenorhabditis elegans. We discovered that treated wild-type and gene-deficient worms show better survivorship, reproduction, and motility compared with their control counterparts. Assays of biochemical indices revealed that variations in sod-3 expression under different stress levels imply an inducible enzyme response resulting from exercise training and antioxidant supplementation. In addition, induced ROS resistance obtained from any type of treatment could persist for several days even after treatment cessation, thus suggesting a potential long-term antioxidative stress effect. Our findings confirm that exercise, antioxidant supplementation, and their combination could significantly improve the ability of C. elegans to withstand adverse stress. Our observations provide promising insights into future therapies of anti-oxidative stress in higher animals.


2019 ◽  
Vol 87 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Crystal M. Austin ◽  
Siamak Garabaglu ◽  
Christina N. Krute ◽  
Miranda J. Ridder ◽  
Nichole A. Seawell ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTTo persist within the host and cause disease,Staphylococcus aureusrelies on its ability to precisely fine-tune virulence factor expression in response to rapidly changing environments. During an unbiased transposon mutant screen, we observed that disruption of a two-gene operon,yjbIH, resulted in decreased levels of pigmentation and aureolysin (Aur) activity relative to the wild-type strain. Further analyses revealed that YjbH, a predicted thioredoxin-like oxidoreductase, is predominantly responsible for the observedyjbIHmutant phenotypes, though a minor role exists for the putative truncated hemoglobin YjbI. These differences were due to significantly decreased expression ofcrtOPQMNandaur. Previous studies found that YjbH targets the disulfide- and oxidative stress-responsive regulator Spx for degradation by ClpXP. The absence ofyjbHoryjbIresulted in altered sensitivities to nitrosative and oxidative stress and iron deprivation. Additionally, aconitase activity was altered in theyjbHandyjbImutant strains. Decreased levels of pigmentation and aureolysin (Aur) activity in theyjbHmutant were found to be Spx dependent. Lastly, we used a murine sepsis model to determine the effect of theyjbIHdeletion on pathogenesis and found that the mutant was better able to colonize the kidneys and spleens during an acute infection than the wild-type strain. These studies identified changes in pigmentation and protease activity in response to YjbIH and are the first to have shown a role for these proteins during infection.


2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liangsheng Xu ◽  
Weidong Chen

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (AMT) was used to identify potential virulence factors in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Screening AMT transformants identified two mutants showing significantly reduced virulence. The mutants showed growth rate, sclerotial formation, and oxalate production similar to that of the wild type. The mutation was due to a single T-DNA insertion at 212 bp downstream of the Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene (SsSOD1, SS1G_00699). Expression levels of SsSOD1 were significantly increased under oxidative stresses or during plant infection in the wild-type strain but could not be detected in the mutant. SsSOD1 functionally complemented the Cu/Zn SOD gene in a Δsod1 Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant. The SOD mutant had increased sensitivity to heavy metal toxicity and oxidative stress in culture and reduced ability to detoxify superoxide in infected leaves. The mutant also had reduced expression levels of other known pathogenicity genes such as endo-polygalacturanases sspg1 and sspg3. The functions of SsSOD1 were further confirmed by SsSOD1-deletion mutation. Like the AMT insertion mutant, the SsSOD1-deletion mutant exhibited normal growth rate, sclerotial formation, oxalate production, increased sensitivity to metal and oxidative stress, and reduced virulence. These results suggest that SsSOD1, while not being required for saprophytic growth and completion of the life cycle, plays critical roles in detoxification of reactive oxygen species during host–pathogen interactions and is an important virulence factor of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.


2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 982-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abderrahim Nemmar ◽  
Suhail Al-Salam ◽  
Priya Yuvaraju ◽  
Sumaya Beegam ◽  
Javed Yasin ◽  
...  

Background/Aim: Epidemiological evidence indicates that water-pipe smoking (WPS) adversely affects the respiratory system. However, the mechanisms underlying its effects are not well understood. Recent experimental studies reported the occurrence of lung inflammation and oxidative stress following acute and subacute exposure to WPS. Here, we wanted to verify the extent of inflammation and oxidative stress in mice chronically-exposed to WPS and to evaluate, for the first time, its effect on alveolar injury and DNA damage and their association with impairment of lung function. Methods: Mice were nose-only exposed to mainstream WPS (30 min/day; 5 days/week for 6 consecutive months). Control mice were exposed using the same protocol to atmospheric air only. At the end of the exposure period, several respiratory parameters were assessed. Results: In bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, WPS increased neutrophil and lymphocyte numbers, lactate dehydrogenase, myeloperoxidase and matrix metallopeptidase 9 activities, as well as several proinflammatory cytokines. In lung tissue, lipid peroxidation, reactive oxygen species, superoxide dismutase activity and reduced glutathione were all increased by WPS exposure. Along with oxidative stress, WPS exposure significantly increased lung DNA damage index. Histologically the lungs of WPS-exposed mice had foci of mixed inflammatory cells infiltration in the interalveolar interstitium which consisted of neutrophils, lymphocytes and macrophages. Interestingly, we found dilated alveolar spaces and alveolar ducts with damaged interalveolar septae, and impairment of lung function following WPS exposure. Conclusion: We show the persistence of lung inflammation and oxidative stress in mice chronically-exposed to WPS and demonstrate, for the first time, the occurrence of DNA damage and enlargement of alveolar spaces and ducts associated with impairment of lung function. Our findings provide novel mechanistic elucidation for the long-term effects of WPS on the respiratory system.


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