With the aim of developing effective anti-inflammatory drugs, we have been investigating the biochemical effects of shikonin of "Shikon" roots, which is a naphthoquinone with anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties. Shikonin scavenged reactive oxygen species like hydroxyl radical, superoxide anion (O2 (•-)) and singlet oxygen in previous studies, but its reactivity with reactive oxygen species is not completely understood, and comparison with standard antioxidants is lacking. This study aimed elucidation of the reactivity of shikonin with nitric oxide radical and reactive oxygen species such as alkyl-oxy radical and O2 (•-).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol
November 2014
Objective: Although nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase 2 (NOX2) is reportedly essential for phagocyte host defenses, it has been found to aggravate atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E (Apoe)-null mice through excess production of superoxide. We therefore assessed the role of NOX2 in an experimental model of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and assessed the mechanism of NOX2 action in AAA.
Approach And Results: AAA was induced in low-density lipoprotein receptor-null (Ldlr(-/-)) mice by infusing angiotensin II.
Background: We hypothesized that gp91phox (NOX2), a subunit of NADPH oxidase, generates superoxide anion (O2-) and has a major causative role in traumatic brain injury (TBI). To evaluate the functional role of gp91phox and reactive oxygen species (ROS) on TBI, we carried out controlled cortical impact in gp91phox knockout mice (gp91phox-/-). We also used a microglial cell line to determine the activated cell phenotype that contributes to gp91phox generation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, which potentiates reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, is crucial for the development of coronary arteritis and aneurysm in Kawasaki disease. We hypothesized that vascular NADPH oxidase (Nox) enzymes participate in the TNF-alpha-triggered endothelial damage through elevating ROS generation. Thus, we herein examine the expression of Nox enzymes in human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC) and the effects of TNF-alpha on Nox-mediated ROS generation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFungal gliotoxin (GT) is a potent inhibitor of the O(2)(-)-generating NADPH oxidase of neutrophils. We reported that GT-treated neutrophils fail to phosphorylate p47(phox), a step essential for the enzyme activation, because GT prevents the colocalization of protein kinase C betaII with p47(phox) on the membrane. However, it remains unanswered whether GT directly affects any of NADPH oxidase components.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrimary cultures of guinea pig gastric mucosal cells express NADPH oxidase 1 (Nox1), a homolog of gp91(phox), and produce superoxide anion (O2-) at a rate of approximately 100 nmol.mg protein(-1).h(-1) in response to Helicobacter pylori (H.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMacrophages produce superoxide (O2-) during phagocytosis or upon stimulation with a variety of agents including phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) through the activation of NADPH oxidase, and the formed O2- is converted to other reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The aim of the present study was to elucidate the effect of the intracellularly produced ROS on mitochondrial transmembrane potential (MTP) in mouse (C57BL/6) peritoneal resident macrophages stimulated with PMA. Using a fluorescent dye, succinimidyl ester of dichlorodihydrofluorescein (H2DCFDA), O2- was visualized in intracellular compartments in a certain subpopulation of macrophages isolated from wild-type mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFReactive oxygen species are a critical weapon in the killing of Aspergillus fumigatus by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN), as demonstrated by severe aspergillosis in chronic granulomatous disease. In the present study, A. fumigatus-produced mycotoxins (fumagillin, gliotoxin [GT], and helvolic acid) are examined for their effects on the NADPH oxidase activity in human PMN.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe NADPH oxidase 1 (Nox1) is a gp91(phox) homologue preferentially expressed in the colon. We have established primary cultures of guinea pig large intestinal epithelial cells giving 90% purity of surface mucous cells. These cells spontaneously released superoxide anion (O(2)(-)) of 160 nmol/mg protein/h and expressed the Nox1, p22(phox), p67(phox), and Rac1 mRNAs, but not the gp91(phox), Nox4, p47(phox), p40(phox), and Rac2 mRNAs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNox1, a homologue of gp91(phox) subunit of the phagocyte NADPH oxidase, is responsible for spontaneous superoxide (O(2)(-)) generation in guinea pig gastric mucosal cells (GMC), but involvement of regulatory components (p67(phox), p47(phox), and Rac) which are essential in phagocytes remains unknown. Here, we aimed to figure out how Nox1 of GMC achieves an active oxidase status. GMC in primary culture show low O(2)(-) generation but acquire a 9-fold higher activity when cultured with Helicobacter pylori lipopolysaccharide (LPS), in correlation with a far increased Nox1 expression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActivation of the superoxide-producing phagocyte NADPH oxidase, crucial in host defense, requires the cytosolic proteins p67(phox) and p47(phox). They translocate to the membrane upon cell stimulation and activate flavocytochrome b(558), the membrane-integrated catalytic core of this enzyme system. The activators p67(phox) and p47(phox) form a ternary complex together with p40(phox), an adaptor protein with unknown function, comprising the PX/PB2, SH3 and PC motif- containing domains: p40(phox) associates with p67(phox) via binding of the p40(phox) PC motif to the p67(phox) PB1 domain, while p47(phox) directly interacts with p67(phox) but not with p40(phox).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe human granulocytic ehrlichiosis agent, Anaplasma phagocytophila, resides and multiplies exclusively in cytoplasmic vacuoles of granulocytes. A. phagocytophila rapidly inhibits the superoxide anion (O(2)(-)) generation by human neutrophils in response to various stimuli.
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