Partial Protection of PC12 Cells from Cellular Stress by Low-Dose Sodium Nitroprusside Pre-treatment.

The PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cell line is an in vitro model system widely used for the investigation of intracellular signaling events contributing to neuronal differentiation and cell death. We found earlier that the nitric oxide donor compound sodium nitroprusside (SNP) induced apoptosis of PC12 cells if it was applied in high concentration (400 µM). Yoshioka et al. (J Pharmacol Sci 101:126-134, 2006) reported that cell death evoked by cytotoxic concentrations of SNP could be prevented by a 100 µM SNP pre-treatment in a murine macrophage cell line. The apoptosis caused by toxic-dose SNP treatment (400 µM) could be partially overcome in PC12 cells as well by the low-dose SNP pre-treatment. The partial inhibition of apoptosis was accompanied by reduced phosphorylation of certain proteins (such as stress-activated protein kinases, the p53, and the eIF2α proteins), decreased caspase activation, and less intense internucleosomal DNA fragmentation. The 100 µM SNP pre-treatment reduced the pro-apoptotic potential of certain other stress stimuli (serum withdrawal, cisplatin and tunicamycin treatments) as well, although the underlying biochemical changes were not entirely uniform. On the contrary, the 100 µM SNP pre-treatment was unable to prevent cell death caused by the protein synthesis inhibitor anisomycin. Further clarification of the above-mentioned processes may be important in understanding the mechanisms by which mild nitrosative stress protects cells against certain forms of cellular stress conditions.

The role of the p53 protein in nitrosative stress-induced apoptosis of PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells.

PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells are widely used to investigate signaling pathways. The p143p53PC12 cell line expresses a Val143Ala mutant p53 protein that is less capable of binding to the p53 consensus site in DNA than its wild-type counterpart. Nitric oxide (NO), depending on its concentration, is able to activate several signal transduction pathways. We used sodium nitroprusside (SNP), an NO donor compound, to analyze NO-induced cellular stress in order to clarify the mechanism and role of nitrosative stress in pathological processes, including inflammation and cancer. SNP caused cell death when applied at a concentration of 400 µM, p143p53PC12 cells showing higher sensitivity than wild-type PC12 cells. The mechanisms leading to the increased SNP-sensitivity of p143p53PC12 cells were then investigated. The 400-µM SNP treatment caused stress kinase activation, phosphorylation of the eukaryotic initiation factor eIF2α and p53 protein, proteolytic activation of protein kinase R, caspase-9, and caspase-3, p53 stabilization, CHOP induction, cytochrome c release from mitochondria, and a decline in the level of the Bcl-2 protein in both cell lines. All these SNP-induced changes were more robust and/or permanent in cells with the mutant p53 protein. We thus conclude that (1) the main cause of the SNP-induced apoptosis of PC12 cells is the repression of the bcl-2 gene, evoked through p53 stabilization, stress kinase activation, and CHOP induction; (2) the higher SNP sensitivity of p143p53PC12 cells is the consequence of the stronger and earlier activation of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway.