Melatonin prevents chemical-induced haemopoietic cell death.

Melatonin (MEL), a methoxyindole synthesized by the pineal gland, is a powerful antioxidant in tissues as well as within cells, with a fundamental role in ameliorating homeostasis in a number of specific pathologies. It acts both as a direct radical scavenger and by stimulating production/activity of intracellular antioxidant enzymes. In this work, some chemical triggers, with different mechanisms of action, have been chosen to induce cell death in U937 hematopoietic cell line. Cells were pre-treated with 100 µM MEL and then exposed to hydrogen peroxide or staurosporine. Morphological analyses, TUNEL reaction and Orange/PI double staining have been used to recognize ultrastructural apoptotic patterns and to evaluate DNA behavior. Chemical damage and potential MEL anti-apoptotic effects were quantified by means of Tali® Image-Based Cytometer, able to monitor cell viability and apoptotic events. After trigger exposure, chromatin condensation, micronuclei formation and DNA fragmentation have been observed, all suggesting apoptotic cell death. These events underwent a statistically significant decrease in samples pre-treated with MEL. After caspase inhibition and subsequent assessment of cell viability, we demonstrated that apoptosis occurs, at least in part, through the mitochondrial pathway and that MEL interacts at this level to rescue U937 cells from death.

The peculiar apoptotic behavior of skeletal muscle cells.

Apoptosis plays an active role in maintaining skeletal muscle homeostasis. Its deregulation is involved in several skeletal muscle disorders such as dystrophies, myopathies, disuse and sarcopenia. The aim of this work was to study in vitro the apoptotic behavior induced by etoposide, staurosporine and hydrogen peroxide in the C2C12 skeletal muscle cell line, comparing myoblast vs myotube sensitivity, investigated by means of morphological and cytofluorimetric analyses. Myotubes appeared more resistant than myoblasts to apoptotic induction. In myoblasts treated with etoposide, nuclei with chromatin condensation were observed, in the presence of a diffuse DNA fragmentation, as shown by confocal microscopy. The latter also appeared in myotubes, where apoptotic and normal nuclei coexisted inside the same syncytium. After staurosporine treatment, myobalsts evidenced late apoptotic features and a high number of TUNEL-positive nuclei. Secondary necrosis appeared in myotubes, where myonuclei with cleaved DNA again coexisted with normal myonuclei. After H2O2 exposure, myotubes, differently from myoblasts, showed a poor sensitivity to cell death. Intriguingly, autophagic granules appeared abundantly in myotubes after each treatment. In myotubes, mitochondria were better preserved than in myoblasts since those which were damaged were probably degraded through autophagic processes. These findings demonstrate a scarce sensitivity of myotubes to apoptotic stimuli due to acquisition of an apoptosis-resistant phenotype during differentiation. The presence of nuclear-dependent "territorial" death domains in the syncytium could explain a slower death of myotubes compared to mononucleated cells. In addition, autophagy could preserve and protect muscle cell integrity against chemical stimuli, making C2C12 cells, in particular myotubes, more resistant to apoptosis induction.

PKC-zeta expression is lower in osteoblasts from arthritic patients: IL1-beta and TNF-alpha induce a similar decrease in non-arthritic human osteoblasts.

Protein kinase C (PKC) is a family of enzymes detected in a diverse range of cell types where they regulate various cellular functions such as proliferation, differentiation, cytoskeletal remodelling, cytokine production, and receptor-mediated signal transduction. In this study we have analyzed the expression of 11 PKC isoforms (-alpha, -beta(I), -beta(II), -gamma, -delta, -eta, -theta, -epsilon, -zeta, -iota/lambda, and -micro) in osteoblasts from patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in comparison with osteoblasts from post-traumatic (PT) patients. By Western blotting analysis, nine isoforms, -alpha, -beta(I), -beta(II), -delta, -theta, - epsilon, -zeta, - iota/lambda, and -micro, were detected in osteoblasts. In RA and OA patients, PKC -theta and -micro were greater expressed whereas PKC-epsilon and -zeta decreased when compared with normal cells. The subcellular distribution and quantitative differences were confirmed by immuno-electron microscopy. Furthermore, we demonstrated that treatment with the proinflammatory cytokines, IL-1beta and TNF-alpha, significantly decreased PKC-zeta expression in PT osteoblasts. This suggests that proinflammatory cytokines can modulate the expression of this PKC isoform in osteoblasts in a way which is similar to changes detected in arthritic patients.

Quantitative immunodetection of key elements of polyphosphoinositide signal transduction in osteoblasts from arthritic patients shows a direct correlation with cell proliferation.

Phosphoinositides play an essential role in diverse cellular functions such as cell proliferation, cytoskeletal regulation, intracellular vesicle trafficking, motility, cell metabolism and death. Alteration of these pathways is common to many diseases. In this study, we show that osteoblasts from patients affected by osteoarthritis (OA) and by rheumatoid arthritis (RA) present a decreased cell proliferation and a reduced expression of the key elements of polyphosphoinositide signal transduction such as phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI 3K), phospholipase C gamma1 (PLCgamma1), and protein kinase C zeta (PKCzeta) compared to the post-traumatic (PT) patients. Our results suggest that a correlation may exist between the reduced osteoblast proliferation observed in OA and RA patients and the lowered expression of PI 3K, PLCgamma1, and PKCzeta enzymes. The reduced proliferation rate of osteoblasts in response to these signal transduction effectors could counteract the evolution of arthritic disease.