Radioresistant Sf9 insect cells undergo an atypical form of Bax-dependent apoptosis at very high doses of γ-radiation.

PURPOSE: To investigate the underlying mechanisms of cell-death at extremely high doses of radiation in radioresistant Spodoptera frugiperda-9 (Sf9) insect cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Morphology, cell proliferation and DNA-fragmentation analysis was performed at 500-2000 Gy. Changes in intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), cardiolipin oxidation and Annexin-V externalization were studied using flow-cytometry. Cytochrome-c release was measured using immunofluorescence microscopy. Inhibitors of apoptosis, i.e., Bongkrekic acid (BKA), Caspase-9 inhibitor (C9i), 5-(4-fluorosulfonylbenzoyl) adenosine hydrochloride (FSBA) and Cyclosporin-A (CsA) were used to dissect apoptotic mechanism at many classical steps. Caspase-3 activity was measured using a caspase-activity assay kit. RESULTS: A dose-dependent induction of typical apoptosis was observed at extremely high doses, marked by extensive apoptotic body formation. However, certain atypical responses such as cellular hypertrophy and the lack of phosphatidylserine-externalization were observed during the initial hours after radiation. Loss of mitochondrial membrane potential observed at 48 h following a 2000 Gy dose was accompanied by an increase in ROS that caused significant cardiolipin oxidation leading to cytochrome-c release, caspase activation and internucleosomal DNA fragmentation. Inhibitors of B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2)-associated X protein (Bax)-mediated cytochrome-c release, apoptosome formation and caspase-9 effectively prevented radiation-induced apoptosis, strongly suggesting the role of Bax-dependent cell death mechanism. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that the Sf9 insect cells display good homology with human cells in the mitochondria-dependent events during radiation-induced apoptosis, although doses eliciting similar responses were 50-200 times higher than human cells. Factors upstream to mitochondrial damage remain pertinent for a thorough understanding of this extreme radioresistance displayed by lepidopteran cells.

Synthesis of oxovanadium(IV) Schiff base complexes derived from C-substituted diamines and pyridoxal-5-phosphate as antitumor agents.

Oxovanadium (IV) complexes of N,N'-bispyridoxyl-5, 5'-bis (phosphate) ethylenediimine (L1) and N,N'-bis(pyridoxyl)-5,5'-bis(phosphate)-1''-(p-nitrobenzyl)ethylenediimine (L2) were synthesized by condensation of optically active C-substituted diamines and pyridoxal-5-phosphate. Oxovanadium (IV) complexes derived from L1 and L2 were evaluated as DNA cleavage agent (cleavage of supercoiled plasmid pBR322 DNA). Interestingly, both the oxovanadium (IV) complexes exhibited DNA nuclease activity, and the extent of oxidation of DNA by these vanadyl complexes was superior to VOSO(4) . The significant reduction in primary tumor and increased delay in tumor growth of 15 days was seen in the tumor regression analysis with oxovanadium (IV) complex of L1. With the preliminary studies performed with the pyridoxal-5-phosphate -based salen derivatives including the cytotoxicity and tumor regression, it is evident that the salen bifunctional chelating agent has obtained therapeutic potential if conjugated to a gene-specific targeting molecule for the oxidation of guanine residue.

Mitochondrial regulation of insect cell apoptosis: evidence for permeability transition pore-independent cytochrome-c release in the Lepidopteran Sf9 cells.

Role of cytochrome-c in insect cell apoptosis is highly controversial, with many earlier reports suggesting lack of involvement of mitochondrial factors in Drosophila while more recent studies have indicated otherwise, thus warranting more in-depth studies of insect cell apoptosis. In the present study, we investigated mitochondrial involvement during actinomycin-D induced apoptosis in Sf9 Lepidopteran cells. Cytochrome-c was released from mitochondria very early during apoptosis, and was preceded quickly by ROS generation and cardiolipin peroxidation. Albeit cytochrome-c release and apoptosis induction were inhibited by bongkrkicacid (BKA) it appears that the release is independent of permeability transition pore (PTP) as it preceded mitochondrial Ca(2+) buildup and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) loss. Further, the release was found to be unaffected by PTP inhibitor cyclosporin-A. Bax inhibitory peptide BiP-P5 could effectively block both cytochrome-c release and apoptosis induction indicating dependence on Bax-channel formation. Inhibition of apoptosis by FSBA, a nucleotide analog that inhibits apoptosome formation through Apaf1 binding, suggested activity of apoptosome similar to mammalian cells. Mitochondria isolated from treated cells activated caspases in the cytosolic fraction of untreated cells while mitochondrial lysates of treated or untreated cells had similar effect. Sequestering cytochrome-c in mitochondrial lysates inhibited DEVDase activity, and addition of purified cytochrome-c and dATP to Sf9 cytosolic fraction induced DEVDase activity, suggesting that cytochrome-c may be exclusively required for Lepidopteran apoptosis. This is the first detailed study demonstrating mitochondrial regulation of Lepidopteran insect cell apoptosis, and reiterates its homology with mammalian cell apoptosis while showing distinctive differences from earlier reports in Drosophila.