Korean J Intern Med.  2009 Sep;24(3):220-226. 10.3904/kjim.2009.24.3.220.

Selectively Decreased Expression of Peroxiredoxins Induced by Silica in Pulmonary Epithelial Cells

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea. schwang@ajou.ac.kr

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
Peroxiredoxin (Prx) belongs to a ubiquitous family of antioxidant enzymes that regulates many cellular processes through intracellular oxidative signal transduction pathways. Silica-induced lung damage involves reactive oxygen species (ROS) that trigger subsequent toxic effects and inflammatory responses in alveolar epithelial cells resulting in fibrosis. Therefore, we investigated the role of Prx in the development of lung oxidant injury caused by silicosis, and determined the implication of ROS in that process. METHODS: Lung epithelial cell lines A549 and WI26 were treated with 1% silica for 0, 24, or 48 hours, following pretreatment of the A549 cells with N-acetyl-L-cysteine and diphenylene iodonium and no pretreatment of the WI26 cells. We transfected an HA-ubiquitin construct into the A549 cell line and then analyzed the cells via Western blotting and co-immunoprecipitation. RESULTS: Silica treatment induced cell death in the A549 lung epithelial cell line and selectively degraded Prx I without impairing protein synthesis in the A549 cells, even when the ROS effect was blocked chemically by N-acetyl-L-cysteine. A co-immunoprecipitation study revealed that Prx I did not undergo ubiquitination. CONCLUSIONS: Silica treatment induces a decrease of Prx I expression in lung epithelial cell lines regardless of the presence of ROS. The silica-induced degradation of Prx does not involve the ubiquitin-proteasomal pathway.

Keyword

Epithelial cell, lung; Lung injury; Peroxiredoxins; Reactive oxygen species; Silicosis

MeSH Terms

Cell Line
Epithelial Cells/drug effects/metabolism
Humans
Lung/chemistry/*drug effects/metabolism
Peroxiredoxins/analysis/*physiology
Protein Isoforms
Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism
Silicon Dioxide/*toxicity
Ubiquitin/metabolism
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