Environmental toxicants inhibit neuronal Jak tyrosine kinase by mitochondrial disruption.

Cadmium, mercury and rotenone are environmental pollutants whose neurotoxic mechanisms are not fully understood. We have shown previously that exposure of nerve cells to these agents produces oxidative stress which reversibly blocks growth factor and cytokine-mediated Janus kinase (Jak)/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signaling. Here we determined a critical role for mitochondrial dysfunction in inhibiting Jak/STAT activity in human BE(2)-C neuroblastoma cells. Exposure of BE(2)-C cells to the heavy metals CdCl(2) and HgCl(2) and to the mitochondrial complex I inhibitor rotenone inhibited interleukin-6, interferon-gamma and ciliary neurotrophic factor-mediated Jak/STAT signaling, reduced Jak1 and Jak2 auto-phosphorylation and induced Jak tyrosine nitration. However, identical exposure of HepG2 hepatoma cells produced no inhibition of these cytokine responses. In contrast, mitochondria in both BE(2)-C and HepG2 cells showed reduced mitochondrial membrane potential and increased superoxide production after exposure to CdCl(2), HgCl(2) and rotenone. Further, in an in vitro Jak auto-phosphorylation assay Jak2 isolated from either BE(2)-C or HepG2 cells was equally inhibited by mitochondria made dysfunctional by treatment with CdCl(2), HgCl(2) and rotenone. Each of these pro-oxidant effects was reversed by the mitochondrial antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid. The actions of cadmium were also blocked by the mitochondrial complex III bypass agent, 2,6-dichloroindophenol. Therefore, in BE(2)-C cells CdCl(2), HgCl(2) and rotenone disrupt mitochondria to increase intracellular ROS, which directly inhibits neuronal Jak tyrosine kinase activity. Non-neuronal cells such as HepG2 cells that are resistant to oxidative stress-mediated inhibition of cytokine signaling possess some as yet unknown mechanism that protects Jak kinases from oxidative insults. Pro-oxidant-induced mitochondrial dysfunction resulting in selective neuronal Jak inhibition provides a potential mechanism for environmental agents to promote neurodegeneration.

Mercury abolishes neurotrophic factor-stimulated Jak-STAT signaling in nerve cells by oxidative stress.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can delay neurological development in neonates, and has been proposed to be an environmental risk factor for several neurodegenerative conditions. The mechanisms by which environmental factors may influence the propagation of neurodegenerative diseases are not yet well delineated. However, it is known that neurons require trophic factor support for maintenance and survival following traumatic physical and toxic insults. We found that divalent mercury (HgCl(2)) inhibited ciliary neurotrophic factor and interferon-gamma receptor-mediated Janus tyrosine kinase (Jak)/signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) pathway activation in SK-N-BE(2)-C neuroblastoma cell cultures, but did not inhibit the fibroblast growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase. Results of dichlorofluorescein experiments showed increased levels of oxidative stress in HgCl(2)-treated cells that was similar in magnitude to that caused by treatment with H(2)O(2). The antioxidant agents glutathione, N-acetylcysteine, and sodium ascorbate each protected neurons against HgCl(2)-induced inhibition of STAT activation. HgCl(2) also inhibited Jak-STAT signaling in cultures of chick retina neurons, but did not affect signaling in nonneuronal HepG2 cells and chick skeletal myotubes. The specific inhibition of growth factor-mediated Jak-STAT signaling pathways in neurons by HgCl(2)-induced oxidative stress offers a new mechanism by which mercury may produce neurotoxic symptoms in the developing nervous system, promote neurodegeneration in mature neurons, and inhibit recovery following neurotrauma.

Cadmium blocks receptor-mediated Jak/STAT signaling in neurons by oxidative stress.

Cadmium is an environmental contaminant producing numerous pathological effects including neurological disorders. The mechanisms through which cadmium produces neurotoxicities are not completely known. We found that divalent cadmium (CdCl2) inhibited ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF)-mediated Jak1 and Jak2 tyrosine kinase signaling in human BE(2)-C neuroblastoma cells. CdCl2 concentrations as low as 0.1 microM and for times as brief as 2 h significantly reduced CNTF-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of both STAT1 and STAT3, the principle substrates of Jak kinases in neurons. The phosphorylation of STAT1 by interferon-gamma was also inhibited by CdCl2. However, activation of the fibroblast growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase was not inhibited by CdCl2. Jak/STAT signaling was inhibited by CdCl2 selectively in cultures of chick retina neurons and neuroblastoma cells, whereas signaling in the nonneuronal cells HepG2 and chick skeletal myotubes was not affected. Results using dichlorofluorescein indicated CdCl2 increased cellular oxidative stress, and all of these effects of CdCl2 were protected against by pretreatment with antioxidants. Neuronal inhibition of Jak kinase by CdCl2-induced oxidative stress is a new mechanism of cadmium action which may directly produce neurotoxic symptoms as well as implicate cadmium and related metals as environmental factors in the etiology of neurodegenerative diseases.

Sexual differentiation of identified motor terminals in Drosophila larvae.

In Drosophila, we have found that some of the motor terminals in wandering third-instar larvae are sexually differentiated. In three out of the four body-wall muscle fibers that we examined, we found female terminals that produced a larger synaptic response than their male counterparts. The single motor terminal that innervates muscle fiber 5 produces an EPSP that is 69% larger in females than in males. This is due to greater release of transmitter from female than male synaptic terminals because the amplitude of spontaneous miniature EPSPs was similar in male and female muscle fibers. This sexual difference exists throughout the third-instar: it is seen in both early (foraging) and late (wandering) third-instar larvae. The sexual differentiation appears to be neuron specific and not muscle specific because the same axon produces Is terminals on muscle fibers 2 and 4, and both terminals produce larger EPSCs in females than males. Whereas, the Ib terminals innervating muscle fibers 2 and 4 are not sexually differentiated. The differences in transmitter release are not due to differences in the size of the motor terminals. For the terminal on muscle fiber 5 and the Is terminal on muscle fiber 4, there were no differences in terminal length, the number of branches, or the number of synaptic boutons in males compared to females. These sexual differences in neuromuscular synaptic physiology may be related to male-female differences in locomotion.