Oxidative Stress-Induced Neuron Toxicity Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Apoptosis; Fenton chemistry; Human neural cells; Inflammation; Metal sulfates; Synergistic effects
IntroductionAge-related neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) have long been associated with free radical-induced oxidative stress, and these are driven by the nonhomeostatic production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. ROS are highly reactive and charged metabolic intermediates that attack DNA, RNA, protein and lipids to leave oxidized cellular components that are genotoxic or cytotoxic, and unable to perform their normal biological functions. While cellular systems have evolved elaborate anti-oxidant systems to neutralize the effects of ROS, degenerative disease processes such as those associated with AD and PD may overwhelm these neuroprotective anti-oxidant defenses [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. The progressive generation of ROS during the course of human aging lies at the core of the free radical theory of aging originally proposed by Harman 55 years ago [10]; this theory implies that aging is associated with increased ambient levels of ROS, ROS-oxidized biomolecules and their deleterious biological effects [8][9][10][11].Based on a previously verified and highly sensitive assay in vitro stress-test system for the effects of ROS on human brain cell pathogenic gene expression [9,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18], in these experiments we tested the ROSinducing effects of the two most widely used non-prescription drugs -simvastatin and acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin); the pro-inflammatory cytokines -interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-1beta (IL-1β); tissue necrosis factor alpha (TNFα); amyloid precursor protein (βAPP) and the AD-associated neurotoxic peptides -Aβ40 and Aβ42; the neurotoxic metals -Hg, Cu, Zn, Mn, Fe and Al; and hydrogen peroxide at 50 nM or 100 nM ambient concentrations in the growth medium of human neuronal-glial (HNG) cells in primary culture. Several of these factors were tested in combination. Because brain cells sense applied physiological stress as a form of impending cellular injury, they respond through an up-regulation of immune and inflammatory
Materials and Methods
Reagents and antibodiesSimvastatin (1S,3R,7S,8S,8aR)-8-{2-[(2R,4R)-4-hydroxy-6-oxotetrahydro-2H-pyran-2-yl]ethyl} -3,7-dimethyl-1,2,3,7,8,8a-hexahydronaphthalen-1-yl2,2-dimethylbutanoate; S6196) and acetylsalicylic acid (O-acetylsalicylic acid, ASA, aspirin; A5376) were dissolved in DMSO and ultrapure water, respectively, following instructions provided by the manufacturer (Sigma-Aldrich Chemical, St. Louis, MO). When appropriate, control HNG cells received DMSO at concentrations used in simvastatin and ASA assays. Solutions of βAPP, Aβ40 and Aβ42 were prepared as previously described [21][22][23]. All trace metals were used as ultrapure sulfates [14]. Briefly, Biochemika MicroSelect© ultrapure reagents for molecular biology, including MgSO 4 (63133), Mn(II) sulfate
AbstractThe cellular gene...