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.     

Shigella dysenteriae ShuS promotes utilization of heme as an iron source and protects against heme toxicity

Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1, a major cause of bacillary dysentery in humans, can use heme as a source of iron. Genes for the transport of heme into the bacterial cell have been identified, but little is known about proteins that control the fate of the heme molecule after it has entered the cell. The shuS gene is located within the heme transport locus, downstream of the heme receptor gene shuA. ShuS is a heme binding protein, but its role in heme utilization is poorly understood. In this work, we report the construction of a chromosomal shuS mutant. The shuS mutant was defective in utilizing heme as an iron source. At low heme concentrations, the shuS mutant grew slowly and its growth was stimulated by either increasing the heme concentration or by providing extra copies of the heme receptor shuA on a plasmid. At intermediate heme concentrations, the growth of the shuS mutant was moderately impaired, and at high heme concentrations, shuS was required for growth on heme. The shuS mutant did not show increased sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide, even at high heme concentrations. ShuS was also required for optimal utilization of heme under microaerobic and anaerobic conditions. These data are consistent with the model in which ShuS binds heme in a soluble, nontoxic form and potentially transfers the heme from the transport proteins in the membrane to either heme-containing or heme-degrading proteins. ShuS did not appear to store heme for future use.     

Free Heme and the Polymerization of Sickle Cell Hemoglobin

In search of novel control parameters for the polymerization of sickle cell hemoglobin (HbS), the primary pathogenic event of sickle cell anemia, we explore the role of free heme, which may be excessively released in sickle erythrocytes. We show that the concentration of free heme in HbS solutions typically used in the laboratory is 0.02-0.04 mole heme/mole HbS. We show that dialysis of small molecules out of HbS solutions arrests HbS polymerization. The addition of 100-260 μM of free heme to dialyzed HbS solutions leads to rates of nucleation and polymer fiber growth faster by two orders of magnitude than before dialysis. Toward an understanding of the mechanism of nucleation enhancement by heme, we show that free heme at a concentration of 66 μM increases by two orders of magnitude the volume of the metastable clusters of dense HbS liquid, the locations where HbS polymer nuclei form. These results suggest that spikes of the free heme concentration in the erythrocytes of sickle cell anemia patients may be a significant factor in the complexity of the clinical manifestations of sickle cell anemia. The prevention of free heme accumulation in the erythrocyte cytosol may be a novel avenue to sickle cell therapy.     

Characterization of a human plasma membrane heme transporter in intestinal and hepatocyte cell lines

Heme is the most bioavailable form of dietary iron and a component of many cellular proteins. Controversy exists as to whether heme uptake occurs via specific transport mechanisms or passive diffusion. The aims of this study were to quantify cellular heme uptake with a fluorescent heme analog and to determine whether heme uptake is mediated by a heme transporter in intestinal and hepatic cell lines. A zinc-substituted porphyrin, zinc mesoporphyrin (ZnMP), was validated as a heme homolog in uptake studies of intestinal (Caco-2, I-407) and hepatic (HepG2) cell lines. Uptake experiments to determine time dependence, heme inhibition, concentration dependence, temperature dependence, and response to the heme synthesis inhibitor succinylacetone were performed. Fluorescence microscope images were used to quantify uptake and determine the cellular localization of ZnMP; ZnMP uptake was seen in intestinal and hepatic cell lines, with cytoplasmic uptake and nuclear sparing. Uptake was dose- and temperature dependent, inhibited by heme competition, and saturated over time. Preincubation with succinylacetone augmented uptake, with an increased initial uptake rate. These findings establish a new method for quantifying heme uptake in individual cells and provide strong evidence that this uptake is a regulated, carrier-mediated process.     

Heme initiates changes in the expression of a wide array of genes during the early erythroid differentiation stage

Heme is central to oxygen sensing and utilization in all living organisms. It directly regulates numerous molecular and cellular processes for systems that sense or use oxygen. In mammals, heme plays an indispensable role in erythroid cell differentiation. To investigate heme regulatory functions, we identified, by differential display, and confirmed, by quantitative RT-PCR and Northern blotting analysis, the genes whose expression is altered by heme during the early stage of K562 cell differentiation. These include genes encoding a GAP-associated p62 protein, histone H2A.Z, a subunit of the small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex, and the chaperonin Tcp20, and a cellular immediate-early-response gene. The results suggest that heme initiates changes in key factors that control a wide array of processes ranging from cell cycle and Ras signaling to chromatin structure, splicing and protein folding. These key factors might act together to mediate heme action, which is critical for erythroid cell differentiation.     

Requirement of heme for growth of Bacteroides fragilis.

Heme or protoporphyrin IX was required for growth of Bacteroides fragilis in a defined medium. The amount of heme necessary for half-maximal growth was 2 to 10 ng/ml (3.8 to 15 pmol/ml) among the Bacteroides species and strains tested. The growth rate, metabolic products from glucose fermentation, and cell yields were affected by the concentration of heme in the medium and by the length of time the culture was incubated. When heme was growth limiting (4 ng/ml), growth rates decreased by 50%, cultures started producing lactic and fumaric acids, and the cell yields declined. The cell yield for B. fragilis (ATCC 25285) at 24 h in medium containing 6.5 microgram of heme per ml was 69 g (dry weight) of cells per mol of glucose compared to 16 g (dry weight) of cells per mol of glucose with 4 ng of heme per ml. B. fragilis was unable to grow in defined medium when a porphyrin precursor, delta-aminolevulenic acid or porphobilinogen, was added in place of heme.     

Decreased heme content and cessation of cell growth in cultured chick embryo fibroblasts in the presence of horse serum: Stimulation of heme synthesis and cell growth by iron

A new spectrofluorometric method for heme quantitation in cultured fibroblasts is described. The method includes: (1) heme extraction by methanol/sulfuric acid, (2) partial purification of heme by a microchromatographic method, and (3) treatment of the purified heme by oxalic acid followed by fluorometric quantitation. Using this method, heme concentration was determined in chick embryo fibroblasts cultured in a medium supplemented with either 7% fetal bovine serum (FBS) or 10% horse serum (HS). In the presence of FBS, cultured cells actively divided and cells contained 34–55 pmol heme/mg protein. In contrast, cultures maintained in HS proliferated at a slower rate and contained 23–25 pmol heme/mg protein. The addition of 40 μM FeSO₄ to cultures maintained in the presence of HS stimulated cell proliferation, and the cellular heme concentration increased to 37–51 pmol/ mg protein. These findings suggest that the cessation of growth in the presence of HS may be due to decreased heme content in the cells and that the stimulation of cell growth by iron is mediated by its stimulation of heme synthesis.     

Biosynthesis of heme in immature erythroid cells. The regulatory step for heme formation in the human erythron

Heme formation in reticulocytes from rabbits and rodents is subject to end product negative feedback regulation: intracellular "free" heme has been shown to control acquisition of transferrin iron for heme synthesis. To identify the site of control of heme biosynthesis in the human erythron, immature erythroid cells were obtained from peripheral blood and aspirated bone marrow. After incubation with human 59Fe transferrin, 2-[14C]glycine, or 4-[14C]delta-aminolevulinate, isotopic incorporation into extracted heme was determined. Addition of cycloheximide to increase endogenous free heme, reduced incorporation of labeled glycine and iron but not delta-aminolevulinate into cell heme. Incorporation of glycine and iron was also sensitive to inhibition by exogenous hematin (Ki, 30 and 45 microM, respectively) i.e. at concentrations in the range which affect cell-free protein synthesis in reticulocyte lysates. Hematin treatment rapidly diminished incorporation of intracellular 59Fe into heme by human erythroid cells but assimilation of 4-[14C]delta-aminolevulinate into heme was insensitive to inhibition by hematin (Ki greater than 100 microM). In human reticulocytes (unlike those from rabbits), addition of ferric salicylaldehyde isonicotinoylhydrazone, to increase the pre-heme iron pool independently of the transferrin cycle, failed to promote heme synthesis or modify feedback inhibition induced by hematin. In human erythroid cells (but not rabbit reticulocytes) pre-incubation with unlabeled delta-aminolevulinate or protoporphyrin IX greatly stimulated utilization of cell 59Fe for heme synthesis and also attenuated end product inhibition. In human erythroid cells heme biosynthesis is thus primarily regulated by feedback inhibition at one or more steps which lead to delta-aminolevulinate formation. Hence in man the regulatory process affects generation of the first committed precursor of porphyrin biosynthesis by delta-aminolevulinate synthetase, whereas in the rabbit separate regulatory mechanisms exist which control the incorporation of iron into protoporphyrin IX.     

Hypoxia reduces the expression of heme oxygenase-2 in various types of human cell lines. A possible strategy for the maintenance of intracellular heme level

Heme oxygenase consists of two structurally related isozymes, heme oxygenase-1 and and heme oxygenase-2, each of which cleaves heme to form biliverdin, iron and carbon monoxide. Expression of heme oxygenase-1 is increased or decreased depending on cellular microenvironments, whereas little is known about the regulation of heme oxygenase-2 expression. Here we show that hypoxia (1% oxygen) reduces the expression levels of heme oxygenase-2 mRNA and protein after 48 h of incubation in human cell lines, including Jurkat T-lymphocytes, YN-1 and K562 erythroleukemia, HeLa cervical cancer, and HepG2 hepatoma, as judged by northern blot and western blot analyses. In contrast, the expression level of heme oxygenase-1 mRNA varies under hypoxia, depending on the cell line; it was increased in YN-1 cells, decreased in HeLa and HepG2 cells, and remained undetectable in Jurkat and K562 cells. Moreover, heme oxygenase-1 protein was decreased in YN-1 cells under the conditions used, despite the induction of heme oxygenase-1 mRNA under hypoxia. The heme oxygenase activity was significantly decreased in YN-1, K562 and HepG2 cells after 48 h of hypoxia. To explore the mechanism for the hypoxia-mediated reduction of heme oxygenase-2 expression, we showed that hypoxia shortened the half-life of heme oxygenase-2 mRNA (from 12 h to 6 h) in YN-1 cells, without affecting the half-life of heme oxygenase-1 mRNA (9.5 h). Importantly, the heme contents were increased in YN-1, HepG2 and HeLa cells after 48 h of incubation under hypoxia. Thus, the reduced expression of heme oxygenase-2 may represent an important adaptation to hypoxia in certain cell types, which may contribute to the maintenance of the intracellular heme level.     

δ-aminolevulinic acid transport and synthesis,porphyrin synthesis and heme catabolism in chick embryo liver and heart cells

Liver and heart represent two organs with markedly different needs for heme as related to their metabolic roles. To examine these diferences chick embryo heart and liver cells were compared with respect to transport of δ-aminolevulinic acid and activity of δ-aminolevulinic acid synthetase, porphyrin synthesis and heme oxygenase. Heart cells were found to have a low rate of δ-aminolevulinic acid uptake, a high resting level of δ-aminolevulinic acid synthetase activity and a lower level of heme oxygenase activity as compared with liver cells. The hepatic cell uptake of δ-aminolevulinic acid was 6–25-times that of heart cells. The embryonal heart cell appears to be a balanced autonomous system for the synthesis and degradation of heme. The embryonal liver cell represents a cell system permeable to exogenous δ-aminolevulinic acid, which is also responsive to and inducible by external stimuli.     

Role of heme in intracellular trafficking of thyroperoxidase and involvement of H2O2 generated at the apical surface of thyroid cells in autocatalytic covalent heme binding

Thyroperoxidase (TPO) is a glycosylated hemoprotein that plays a key role in thyroid hormone synthesis. We previously showed that in CHO cells expressing human TPO (hTPO) only 2% of synthesized hTPO reaches the cell surface. Herein, we investigated the role of heme moiety insertion in the exit of hTPO from the endoplasmic reticulum. Peroxidase activity at the cell surface and cell surface expression of hTPO were decreased by approximately 30 and approximately 80%, respectively, with succinyl acetone, an inhibitor of heme biosynthesis, and were increased by 20% with holotransferrin and aminolevulinic acid, precursors of heme biosynthesis. Results were similar with holotransferrin plus aminolevulinic acid or hemin, but hemin increased cell surface activity more efficiently (+120%) relative to the control. It had been suggested (DePillis, G., Ozaki, S., Kuo, J. M., Maltby, D. A., and Ortiz de Montellano, P. R. (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272, 8857-8960) that covalent attachment of heme to mammalian peroxidases could be an H2O2-dependent autocatalytic processing. In our study, heme associated intracellularly with hTPO, and we hypothesized that there was insufficient exposure to H2O2 in Chinese hamster ovary cells before hTPO reached the cell surface. After a 10-min incubation, 10 microM H2O2 led to a 65% increase in cell surface activity. In contrast, in thyroid cells, H2O2 was synthesized at the apical cell surface and allowed covalent attachment of heme. Two-day incubation of primocultures of thyroid cells with catalase led to a 30% decrease in TPO activity at the cell surface. In conclusion, we provide compelling evidence for an essential role of 1) heme incorporation in the intracellular trafficking of hTPO and of 2) H2O2 generated at the apical pole of thyroid cells in the autocatalytic covalent heme binding to the TPO molecule.     

Heme binding to murine erythroleukemia cells. Evidence for a heme receptor

Friend virus transformed murine erythroleukemia (MEL) cells are known to take up heme from the surrounding medium and to incorporate it into newly synthesized hemoglobin (Granick, J. L., and Sassa, S. (1978) J. Biol. Chem. 253, 5402-5406), but the mechanism of its uptake is unknown. We hypothesized the existence of a specific receptor for heme in the plasma membrane. Using [55Fe]heme, we examined the characteristics of its interaction with MEL cells at 4 degrees C. [55Fe]heme binding reached equilibrium within 4 h, was 80% dissociable by 16 h, and was independent of pH over the range 7.0-8.2. Specific heme binding was linear with cell number, and competitive binding studies with various heme analogues, such as free protoporphyrin IX, metal-substituted protoporphyrin IX, Fe-mesoporphyrin IX, and Fe-deuteroporphyrin IX, revealed significant stereospecificity for Fe-protoporphyrin IX. The dissociation constant of the interaction was 0.03 nM-1 with no evidence of cooperativity or multiple classes of sites. The average number of sites/cell was approximately 10,300. Reduction of binding following preincubation with trypsin, in conjunction with the above data, suggests that this cell type may display a receptor for heme which is comprised, as least in part, of protein.     

Plesiomonas shigelloides hugZ encodes an iron-regulated heme binding protein required for heme iron utilization

Plesiomonas shigelloides is an intestinal pathogen that uses heme as an iron source. The P. shigelloides heme utilization system consists of 10 genes, 7 of which permit heme transport and 3 of which are associated with utilization of heme as an iron source once it is inside the cell. The goal of this study was to examine hugZ, 1 of the 3 genes associated with utilization of heme iron. DPH8, a hugZ mutant, failed to grow to full cell density in media containing heme as the iron source, indicating that hugZ is required for heme iron utilization. Western blots using antibodies against Vibrio cholerae HutZ to detect the P. shigelloides HugZ indicated that hugZ encodes an iron-regulated cytoplasmic protein, which is absent in DPH8. A heme affinity bead assay performed on soluble protein fractions from P. shigelloides DPH8/pHUG24.5 (pHUG24.5 encodes hugZ) indicated that HugZ binds heme. Heme utilization was restored in DPH8 by hox1, which encodes the alpha-heme oxygenase from Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803. However, HugZ did not exhibit alpha-heme oxygenase activity in an assay that detects the conversion of heme to the bilin functional group present in phycobiliproteins. These results do not rule out that HugZ exhibits another type of heme oxygenase activity not detected in the assay.     

Iron metabolism in K562 erythroleukemic cells

Iron delivery to K562 cells is enhanced by desferrioxamine through induction of transferrin receptors. Experiments were performed to further characterize this event with respect to iron metabolism and heme synthesis. In control cells, up to 85% of the iron taken up from iron-transferrin was incorporated into ferritin, 7% into heme, and the remainder into compartments not yet identified. In cells grown with desferrioxamine, net accumulation of intracellular desferrioxamine (14-fold) was observed and iron incorporation into ferritin and heme was inhibited by 86% and 75%, respectively. In contrast, complete inhibition of heme synthesis in cells grown with succinylacetone had no effect on transferrin binding or iron uptake. Exogenous hemin (30 microM) inhibited transferrin binding and iron uptake by 70% and heme synthesis by 90%. These effects were already evident after 2 h. Thus, although heme production could be reduced by desferrioxamine, succinylacetone, and hemin, cell iron uptake was enhanced only by the intracellular iron chelator. The effects of exogenous heme are probably unphysiologic and the greater inhibition of iron flow into heme can be explained by effects on early steps of heme synthesis. We conclude that in this cell model a chelatable intracellular iron pool rather than heme synthesis mediates regulation of iron uptake.     

Heme requirement and intracellular trafficking in Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes

Epimastigotes multiplies in the insect midgut by taking up nutrients present in the blood meal including heme bound to hemoglobin of red blood cell. During blood meal digestion by vector proteases in the posterior midgut, hemoglobin is clipped off into amino acids, peptides, and free heme. In this paper, we compared the heme and hemoglobin uptake kinetics and followed their intracellular trafficking. Addition of heme to culture medium increased epimastigote proliferation in a dose-dependent manner, while medium supplemented with hemoglobin enhanced growth after 3-day lag phase. Medium supplemented with globin-derived peptides stimulated cell proliferation in a dose-independent way. Using Palladium mesoporphyrin IX (Pd-mP) as a fluorescent heme-analog, we observed that heme internalization proceeded much faster than that observed by hemoglobin-rhodamine. Binding experiments showed that parasites accumulated the Pd-mP into the posterior region of the cell whereas hemoglobin-rhodamine stained the anterior region. Finally, using different specific inhibitors of ABC transporters we conclude that a P-glycoprotein homologue transporter is probably involved in heme transport through the plasma membrane.     

Unique heme-iron coordination by the hemoglobin receptor IsdB of Staphylococcus aureus

Iron is an essential requirement for life for nearly all organisms. The human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus is able to acquire iron from the heme cofactor of hemoglobin (Hb) released from lysed erythrocytes. IsdB, the predominant Hb receptor of S. aureus, is a cell wall-anchored protein that is composed of two NEAT domains. The N-terminal NEAT domain (IsdB-N1) binds Hb, and the C-terminal NEAT domain (IsdB-N2) relays heme to IsdA for transport into the cell. Here we present the 1.45 ? resolution X-ray crystal structure of the IsdB-N2-heme complex. While the structure largely conforms to the eight-strand β-sandwich fold seen in other NEAT domains such as IsdA-N and uses a conserved Tyr residue to coordinate heme-iron, a Met residue is also involved in iron coordination, resulting in a novel Tyr-Met hexacoordinate heme-iron state. The kinetics of the transfer of heme from IsdB-N2 to IsdA-N can be modeled as a two-step process. The rate of transfer of heme between the isolated NEAT domains (82 s(-1)) was found to be similar to that measured for the full-length proteins. Replacing the iron coordinating Met with Leu did not abrogate high-affinity heme binding but did reduce the heme transfer rate constant by more than half. This unusual Met-Tyr heme coordination may also bestow properties on IsdB that help it to bind heme in different oxidation states or extract heme from hemoglobin.     

Heme controls the expression of cell cycle regulators and cell growth in HeLa cells

Heme plays a central role in oxygen utilization and in the generation of cellular energy. Here we examined the effect of heme and heme deficiency on cell cycle progression and the expression of key regulators in HeLa cells. We found that inhibition of heme synthesis causes cell cycle arrest and induces the expression of molecular markers associated with senescence and apoptosis, such as increased formation of PML nuclear bodies. Our data show that succinyl acetone-induced heme deficiency increases the protein levels of the tumor suppressor gene product p53 and CDK inhibitor p21, and decreases the protein levels of Cdk4, Cdc2, and cyclin D2. Further, we found that heme deficiency diminishes the activation/phosphorylation of Raf, MEK1/2, and ERK1/2-components of the MAP kinase signaling pathway. Our results show that heme is a versatile molecule that can effectively control cell growth and survival by acting on multiple regulators.