Heme deficiency causes apoptosis but does not increase ROS generation in HeLa cells

Mitochondria provide cellular energy supply via respiration and are the major sites for the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Mitochondria also play a fundamental role in apoptosis. Heme is a key factor in mitochondrial function. Defective heme synthesis or altered heme metabolism is associated with numerous diseases. Here we investigated the molecular mechanism by which heme promotes HeLa cell growth and survival. We found that heme deficiency-induced apoptosis involves the release of cytochrome c and the activation of caspase 3. However, heme deficiency-induced apoptosis appears to occur by a unique mechanism distinct from those known to mediate mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis. Specifically, our data show that heme deficiency causes apoptosis in a pathway that is independent of ROS generation and the collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential. These results provide insights into how defective heme synthesis or altered heme metabolism causes diseases and how heme may control cell growth and cell death.     

Relationship between reactive oxygen species and heme metabolism during the differentiation of Neuro2a cells

Although neuronal cells are highly vulnerable to oxidative stress, recent studies suggest that production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) increases during and is essential for neuronal differentiation. In addition, we have previously found that heme biosynthesis is up-regulated during retinoic acid-induced differentiation of Neuro2a cells. In the current study, we showed that this up-regulation of heme biosynthesis during differentiation is ROS-dependent. Furthermore, we found that ROS-dependent induction of heme oxygenase, which degrades heme and acts as an anti-oxidant, and catalase, another anti-oxidant enzyme that contains heme as a prosthetic group, occurs during differentiation. These results suggest that heme biosynthesis following the degradation of heme protects Neuro2a cells from oxidative stress caused by ROS during differentiation.     

Heme inhibits human neutrophil apoptosis: involvement of phosphoinositide 3-kinase, MAPK, and NF-kappaB

High levels of free heme are found in pathological states of increased hemolysis, such as sickle cell disease, malaria, and ischemia reperfusion. The hemolytic events are often associated with an inflammatory response that usually turns into chronic inflammation. We recently reported that heme is a proinflammatory molecule, able to induce neutrophil migration, reactive oxygen species generation, and IL-8 expression. In this study, we show that heme (1-50 microM) delays human neutrophil spontaneous apoptosis in vitro. This effect requires heme oxygenase activity, and depends on reactive oxygen species production and on de novo protein synthesis. Inhibition of ERK and PI3K pathways abolished heme-protective effects upon human neutrophils, suggesting the involvement of the Ras/Raf/MAPK and PI3K pathway on this effect. Confirming the involvement of these pathways in the modulation of the antiapoptotic effect, heme induces Akt phosphorylation and ERK-2 nuclear translocation in neutrophils. Futhermore, inhibition of NF-kappa B translocation reversed heme antiapoptotic effect. NF-kappa B (p65 subunit) nuclear translocation and I kappa B degradation were also observed in heme-treated cells, indicating that free heme may regulate neutrophil life span modulating signaling pathways involved in cell survival. Our data suggest that free heme associated with hemolytic episodes might play an important role in the development of chronic inflammation by interfering with the longevity of neutrophils.     

Tetrapyrrole‐based drought stress signalling

Tetrapyrroles such as chlorophyll and heme play a vital role in primary plant metabolic processes such as photosynthesis and respiration. Over the past decades, extensive genetic and molecular analyses have provided valuable insights into the complex regulatory network of the tetrapyrrole biosynthesis. However, tetrapyrroles are also implicated in abiotic stress tolerance, although the mechanisms are largely unknown. With recent reports demonstrating that modified tetrapyrrole biosynthesis in plants confers wilting avoidance, a component physiological trait to drought tolerance, it is now timely that this pathway be reviewed in the context of drought stress signalling. In this review, the significance of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis under drought stress is addressed, with particular emphasis on the inter‐relationships with major stress signalling cascades driven by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and organellar retrograde signalling. We propose that unlike the chlorophyll branch, the heme branch of the pathway plays a key role in mediating intracellular drought stress signalling and stimulating ROS detoxification under drought stress. Determining how the tetrapyrrole biosynthetic pathway is involved in stress signalling provides an opportunity to identify gene targets for engineering drought‐tolerant crops.     

Up-regulation of A1M/α1-microglobulin in skin by heme and reactive oxygen species gives protection from oxidative damage

During bleeding the skin is subjected to oxidative insults from free heme and radicals, generated from extracellular hemoglobin. The lipocalin α₁-microglobulin (A1M) was recently shown to have reductase properties, reducing heme-proteins and other substrates, and to scavenge heme and radicals. We investigated the expression and localization of A1M in skin and the possible role of A1M in the protection of skin tissue from damage induced by heme and reactive oxygen species. Skin explants, keratinocyte cultures and purified collagen I were exposed to heme, reactive oxygen species, and/or A1M and investigated by biochemical methods and electron microscopy. The results demonstrate that A1M is localized ubiquitously in the dermal and epidermal layers, and that the A1M-gene is expressed in keratinocytes and up-regulated after exposure to heme and reactive oxygen species. A1M inhibited the heme- and reactive oxygen species-induced ultrastructural damage, up-regulation of antioxidation and cell cycle regulatory genes, and protein carbonyl formation in skin and keratinocytes. Finally, A1M bound to purified collagen I (K_d = 0.96×10⁻⁶ M) and could inhibit and repair the destruction of collagen fibrils by heme and reactive oxygen species. The results suggest that A1M may have a physiological role in protection of skin cells and matrix against oxidative damage following bleeding.     

A mechanism of oxygen sensing in yeast. Multiple oxygen-responsive steps in the heme biosynthetic pathway affect Hap1 activity

Heme plays central roles in oxygen sensing and utilization in many living organisms. In yeast, heme mediates the effect of oxygen on the expression of many genes involved in using or detoxifying oxygen. However, a direct link between intracellular heme level and oxygen concentration has not been vigorously established. In this report, we have examined the relationships among oxygen levels, heme levels, Hap1 activity, and HAP1 expression. We found that Hap1 activity is controlled in vivo by heme and not by its precursors and that heme activates Hap1 even in anoxic cells. We also found that Hap1 activity exhibits the same oxygen dose-response curves as Hap1-dependent aerobic genes and that these dose-response curves have a sharp break at approximately 1 microM O2. The results show that the intracellular signaling heme level, reflected as Hap1 activity, is closely correlated with oxygen concentration. Furthermore, we found that bypass of all heme synthetic steps but ferrochelatase by deuteroporphyrin IX does not circumvent the need for oxygen in Hap1 full activation by heme, suggesting that the last step of heme synthesis, catalyzed by ferrochelatase, is also subjected to oxygen control. Our results show that multiple heme synthetic steps can sense oxygen concentration and provide significant insights into the mechanism of oxygen sensing in yeast.     

Cytochrome c oxidase dysfunction in oxidative stress

Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) is the terminal oxidase of the mitochondrial electron transport chain. This bigenomic enzyme in mammals contains 13 subunits of which the 3 catalytic subunits are encoded by the mitochondrial genes. The remaining 10 subunits with suspected roles in the regulation, and/or assembly, are coded by the nuclear genome. The enzyme contains two heme groups (heme a and a3) and two Cu(2+) centers (Cu(2+) A and Cu(2+) B) as catalytic centers and handles more than 90% of molecular O(2) respired by the mammalian cells and tissues. CcO is a highly regulated enzyme which is believed to be the pacesetter for mitochondrial oxidative metabolism and ATP synthesis. The structure and function of the enzyme are affected in a wide variety of diseases including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, myocardial ischemia/reperfusion, bone and skeletal diseases, and diabetes. Despite handling a high O(2) load the role of CcO in the production of reactive oxygen species still remains a subject of debate. However, a volume of evidence suggests that CcO dysfunction is invariably associated with increased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production and cellular toxicity. In this paper we review the literature on mechanisms of multimodal regulation of CcO activity by a wide spectrum of physiological and pathological factors. We also review an array of literature on the direct or indirect roles of CcO in reactive oxygen species production.     

Carbon monoxide protects against hyperoxia-induced endothelial cell apoptosis by inhibiting reactive oxygen species formation

Hyperoxia causes cell injury and death associated with reactive oxygen species formation and inflammatory responses. Recent studies show that hyperoxia-induced cell death involves apoptosis, necrosis, or mixed phenotypes depending on cell type, although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Using murine lung endothelial cells, we found that hyperoxia caused cell death by apoptosis involving both extrinsic (Fas-dependent) and intrinsic (mitochondria-dependent) pathways. Hyperoxia-dependent activation of the extrinsic apoptosis pathway and formation of the death-inducing signaling complex required NADPH oxidase-dependent reactive oxygen species production, because this process was attenuated by chemical inhibition, as well as by genetic deletion of the p47(phox) subunit, of the oxidase. Overexpression of heme oxygenase-1 prevented hyperoxia-induced cell death and cytochrome c release. Likewise, carbon monoxide, at low concentrations, markedly inhibited hyperoxia-induced endothelial cell death by inhibiting cytochrome c release and caspase-9/3 activation. Carbon monoxide, by attenuating hyperoxia-induced reactive oxygen species production, inhibited extrinsic apoptosis signaling initiated by death-inducing signal complex trafficking from the Golgi apparatus to the plasma membrane and downstream activation of caspase-8. We also found that carbon monoxide inhibited the hyperoxia-induced activation of Bcl-2-related proteins involved in both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic signaling. Carbon monoxide inhibited the activation of Bid and the expression and mitochondrial translocation of Bax, whereas promoted Bcl-X(L)/Bax interaction and increased Bad phosphorylation. We also show that carbon monoxide promoted an interaction of heme oxygenase-1 with Bax. These results define novel mechanisms underlying the antiapoptotic effects of carbon monoxide during hyperoxic stress.     

植物乙烯生物合成过程中活性氧的作用

大量的研究结果表明,活性氧参与植物乙烯生物合成过程具有明显的普遍性,超氧阴离子自由基是参与乙烯生物合成过程的主要活性氧。近年来研究的焦点主要从乙烯生物合成的关键调控酶ACC合酶及ACC氧化酶的酶活性、酶动力学特性、酶蛋白空间结构、酶基因表达水平等方面来阐明活性氧调控植物乙烯生物合成的机制。最新的研究表明：植物在各种正常或应激的生长条件下首先诱导了活性氧产生水平的变化,活性氧在基因或蛋白质水平上影响ACC合酶和ACC氧化酶的活性水平,从而调节乙烯的生物合成。本文首次综述了活性氧影响植物乙烯生物合成过程的最新研究进展,并对活性氧在植物乙烯生物合成中具有诱导与抑制并存的“双重性”作用进行了探讨。     

Up-regulation of alpha1-microglobulin by hemoglobin and reactive oxygen species in hepatoma and blood cell lines

alpha(1)-Microglobulin is a 26-kDa glycoprotein synthesized in the liver, secreted to the blood, and rapidly distributed to the extravascular compartment of all tissues. Recent results show that alpha(1)-microglobulin has heme-binding and heme-degrading properties and it has been suggested that the protein is involved in the defense against oxidation by heme and reactive oxygen species. In the present study the influence of hemoglobin and reactive oxygen species (ROS) on the cellular expression of alpha(1)-microglobulin was investigated. Oxy- and methemoglobin, free heme, and Fenton reaction-induced hydroxyl radicals induced a dose-dependent up-regulation of alpha(1)-microglobulin on both mRNA and protein levels in hepatoma cells and an increased secretion of alpha(1)-microglobulin. The up-regulation was reversed by the addition of catalase and ascorbate, and by reacting hemoglobin with cyanide which prevents redox reactions. Furthermore, the blood cell lines U937 and K562 expressed alpha(1)-microglobulin at low levels, and this expression increased up to 11-fold by the addition of hemoglobin. These results suggest that alpha(1)-microglobulin expression is induced by ROS, arising from redox reactions of hemoglobin or from other sources and are consistent with the hypothesis that alpha(1)-microglobulin participates in the defense against oxidation by hemoglobin, heme, and reactive oxygen species.     

Induction of heme oxygenase-1 inhibits NAD(P)H oxidase activity by down-regulating cytochrome b558 expression via the reduction of heme availability

Heme-oxygenase-1 (HO-1), the rate-limiting enzyme of heme degradation, has powerful anti-oxidant properties related to the production of the reactive oxygen species scavenger bilirubin. However, some data suggest that HO-1 could also inhibit the cellular production of reactive oxygen species. Therefore, we investigated whether the anti-oxidant properties of HO-1 could be mediated by modulation of the activity and/or expression of the heme-containing NAD(P)H oxidase, the main source of the superoxide anion (O(2)(-)) in phagocytic cells. Increasing HO-1 expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages effectively decreased NAD(P)H oxidase activity and expression of gp91(phox), its heme-containing catalytic component, because of deficient protein maturation and increased degradation. Loading cells with heme reversed the decrease in O(2)(-) production and gp91(phox) expression induced by HO-1 overexpression. Similar results were obtained in vivo in rat alveolar macrophages after pharmacological modulation of HO-1 expression or activity. These results show that a decrease in heme content due to HO-1 activation limits heme availability for maturation of the gp91(phox) subunit and assembly of the functional NAD(P)H oxidase. This study provides a new mechanism to explain HO-1 anti-oxidant properties.     

Heme synthesis increases artemisinin-induced radical formation and cytotoxicity that can be suppressed by superoxide scavengers

Artemisinin (ART) is a sesquiterpene lactone natural product that is widely used to treat multi-drug resistant strains of malaria. Artemisinin and its derivatives are also selectively cytotoxic to cancer cells, which can be modulated by altering heme synthesis. Cytotoxicity to cancer cells is thought to involve generation of oxidative stress, although conflicting data exist. We have analyzed reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation using the fluorescent probes 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCF) and dihydroethidine (HET) upon exposure to dihydroartemisinin (DHA) in Molt-4 leukemia cells. HET fluorescence correlated with dose-dependent DHA-induced cytotoxicity, increased within 30 min of DHA exposure, and was significantly enhanced by increasing heme synthesis. Protein levels of copper,zinc-superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), manganese-superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidases 1/2 were also found to increase with DHA exposure. 4-hydroxy-tempol (TEMPOL) and DF-Mn, MnSOD mimetics, could significantly inhibit ROS generation and reduce cell death. Production of superoxide appears to be a central mediator of cytotoxicity from DHA.     

Heme biosynthesis and oogenesis in the blood-sucking bug, Rhodnius prolixus

We have previously shown that the pathway of porphyrin synthesis operates in the blood feeding triatomine bug Rhodnius prolixus but not in the cattle tick Boophilus microplus. In the present paper we studied the correlation between heme synthesis and egg development in Rhodnius. There is a sharp increase heme biosynthetic capability in the fat body (160%) and in the ovaries (360%) in response to a blood meal, as evaluated from the activity of the enzyme delta-aminolevulinate dehydratase (EC 4.2.1.24). The in vivo inhibition of ALA-D by succinyl acetone results in a dose dependent decrease of oviposition. Oviposition is recovered when porphobilinogen, the product of the impaired reaction, is added to the succinyl acetone enriched blood. Taken together, these results show that heme biosynthesis is a fundamental event to vitellogenic females. The demand for heme in this metabolic juncture cannot be supplied by the heme eventually absorbed during blood digestion and associated with Rhodnius heme binding protein (RHBP), which is then incorporated into growing oocytes. Inhibition of heme biosynthesis results in lower levels of RHBP in the hemolymph, suggesting that the synthesis of this protein is controlled by heme availability.     

Surface charge interactions of the FMN module govern catalysis by nitric-oxide synthase

The FMN module of nitric-oxide synthase (NOS) plays a pivotal role by transferring NADPH-derived electrons to the enzyme heme for use in oxygen activation. The process may involve a swinging mechanism in which the same face of the FMN module accepts and provides electrons during catalysis. Crystal structure shows that this face of the FMN module is electronegative, whereas the complementary interacting surface is electropositive, implying that charge interactions enable function. We used site-directed mutagenesis to investigate the roles of six electronegative surface residues of the FMN module in electron transfer and catalysis in neuronal NOS. Results are interpreted in light of crystal structures of NOS and related flavoproteins. Neutralizing or reversing the negative charge of each residue altered the NO synthesis, NADPH oxidase, and cytochrome c reductase activities of neuronal NOS and also altered heme reduction. The largest effects occurred at the NOS-specific charged residue Glu(762). Together, the results suggest that electrostatic interactions of the FMN module help to regulate electron transfer and to minimize flavin autoxidation and the generation of reactive oxygen species during NOS catalysis.     

Exploring the molecular basis of heme coordination in human neuroglobin

Neuroglobin (Ngb), a recently discovered ancient heme protein, presents the typical globin fold and is around 20% identical to myoglobin (Mb). In contrast with Mb, however, its heme is hexacoordinated (6c). It is expressed in the nervous system and has been the subject of numerous investigations in the last years, but its function is still unclear. The proposed roles include oxygen transport, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detoxification, hypoxia protection, and redox state sensing. All proposed functions require distal histidine dissociation from the heme to yield a reactive iron. With the aim of understanding the 6c to 5c transition, we have performed molecular dynamics simulations for ferrous Ngb in the 6c, 5c, and oxy states. We also computed free energy profiles associated with the transition employing an advanced sampling technique. Finally, we studied the effect of the redox state of CysCD7 and CysD5, which are known to form a disulfide bridge. Our results show that protein oxidation promotes a stabilization of the pentacoordinated species, thus favoring the protein to adopt the more reactive state and supporting the existence of a molecular mechanism whereby O2 would be released under hypoxic conditions, thereby suggesting an O(2) storage function for Ngb. Taken together, our results provide structural information not available experimentally which may shed light on the protein proposed functions, particularly as a redox sensor.     

Heme Amplifies the Innate Immune Response to Microbial Molecules through Spleen Tyrosine Kinase (Syk)-dependent Reactive Oxygen Species Generation

Infectious diseases that cause hemolysis are among the most threatening human diseases, because of severity and/or global distribution. In these conditions, hemeproteins and heme are released, but whether heme affects the inflammatory response to microorganism molecules remains to be characterized. Here, we show that heme increased the lethality and cytokine secretion induced by LPS in vivo and enhanced the secretion of cytokines by macrophages stimulated with various agonists of innate immune receptors. Activation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) and MAPKs and the generation of reactive oxygen species were essential to the increase in cytokine production induced by heme plus LPS. This synergistic effect of heme and LPS was blocked by a selective inhibitor of spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) and was abrogated in dendritic cells deficient in Syk. Moreover, inhibition of Syk and the downstream molecules PKC and PI3K reduced the reactive oxygen species generation by heme. Our results highlight a mechanism by which heme amplifies the secretion of cytokines triggered by microbial molecule activation and indicates possible pathways for therapeutic intervention during hemolytic infectious diseases.