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Acetaminophen (APAP) is one of the most widely used drugs with antipyretic and analgesic effects, and thus hepatotoxicity from the overdose of APAP becomes one of the most common forms of drug-induced liver injury. The reaction towards thiol molecules, such as GSH by APAP metabolite, N-acetyl-p-benzo-quinonimine (NAPQI), is the main cause of APAP-induced hepatotoxicity. However, the role of many other thiol-related regulators in toxicity caused by APAP is still unclear. Here we have found that knockout of the Glrx2 gene, which encodes mitochondrial glutaredoxin2 (Grx2), sensitized mice to APAP-caused hepatotoxicity. Glrx2 deletion hindered Nrf2-mediated compensatory recovery of thiol-dependent redox systems after acetaminophen challenge, resulting in a more oxidized cellular state with a further decrease in GSH level, thioredoxin reductase activity, and GSH/GSSG ratio. The weakened feedback regulation capacity of the liver led to higher levels of protein glutathionylation and thioredoxin (both Trx1 and Trx2) oxidation in Glrx2−/− mice. Following the cellular environment oxidation, nuclear translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) was elevated in the liver of Glrx2−/− mice. Taken together, these results demonstrated that mitochondrial Grx2 deficiency deteriorated APAP-induced hepatotoxicity by interrupting thiol-redox compensatory response, enhancing the AIF pathway-mediated oxidative damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acetaminophen (APAP) is one of the most widely used drugs with antipyretic and analgesic effects, and thus hepatotoxicity from the overdose of APAP becomes one of the most common forms of drug-induced liver injury. The reaction towards thiol molecules, such as GSH by APAP metabolite, N-acetyl-p-benzo-quinonimine (NAPQI), is the main cause of APAP-induced hepatotoxicity. However, the role of many other thiol-related regulators in toxicity caused by APAP is still unclear. Here we have found that knockout of the Glrx2 gene, which encodes mitochondrial glutaredoxin2 (Grx2), sensitized mice to APAP-caused hepatotoxicity. Glrx2 deletion hindered Nrf2-mediated compensatory recovery of thiol-dependent redox systems after acetaminophen challenge, resulting in a more oxidized cellular state with a further decrease in GSH level, thioredoxin reductase activity, and GSH/GSSG ratio. The weakened feedback regulation capacity of the liver led to higher levels of protein glutathionylation and thioredoxin (both Trx1 and Trx2) oxidation in Glrx2−/− mice. Following the cellular environment oxidation, nuclear translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) was elevated in the liver of Glrx2−/− mice. Taken together, these results demonstrated that mitochondrial Grx2 deficiency deteriorated APAP-induced hepatotoxicity by interrupting thiol-redox compensatory response, enhancing the AIF pathway-mediated oxidative damage.

Glutaredoxin2 (Grx2) is a mitochondrial isozyme of the cytosolic glutaredoxin1 (thioltransferase or TTase). Both belong to the large oxidoreductase family and play an important role in maintaining thiol/disulfide redox homeostasis in the cells. Grx2 is recently found in the lens where its activities of disulfide reductase and peroxidase, similar to TTase, can protect the lens against oxidative stress. Since other eye tissues are also highly sensitive to oxidative stress, and TTase's distribution in the eye is known, we focused on this study by investigating the Grx2 distribution in the ocular tissues in comparison to the lens. Fresh porcine eyes were dissected into cornea, iris, ciliary body, the lens, vitreous humor, retina, and optic nerve. Each tissue (pooled from three eyes) was homogenized and processed for mitochondrial isolation. The mitochondrial fraction was analyzed for Grx2 protein using Western blotting with anti-Grx2 antibody, and Grx2 activity using the published procedure. The eye tissues were also measured for Grx2 mRNA expression by RT-PCR with GAPDH as the control. Grx2-rich mouse liver and purified recombinant mouse Grx2 were used as positive controls for the above analyses. It was found that Grx2 was present in all the tested ocular tissues, except vitreous humor. In comparison with the mouse liver, the protein levels of Grx2 in porcine ciliary body and the lens were 27-fold and 0.75-fold, respectively. Comparing to the lens, Grx2 protein was highest in the ciliary body (13.5-fold), followed by retina (9.2-fold), iris and optic nerve (2-fold), and cornea (1.2-fold). Enzyme activity assays showed that the retina had the highest Grx2 specific activity (3.9 mU/mg protein), followed by ciliary body (3.1 mU/mg), the lens (0.58 mU/mg), and optic nerve (0.32 mU/mg). Grx2 gene expression in these ocular tissues was further confirmed by RT-PCR analysis. Grx2 mRNA expression showed the highest in ciliary body, followed by retina, optic nerve, cornea, iris, and the lens. No Grx2 mRNA, protein or enzyme activity could be found in the vitreous humor. The results indicate that Grx2 level was higher in eye tissues rich in vasculature and mitochondria (i.e. ciliary body and retina), corroborating with the levels of mRNA expression and Grx2 activity. The rich presence of Grx2 in these tissues is also consistent with their known sensitivity to oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Glutaredoxin 2 (Grx2) belongs to the oxidoreductase family and is an isozyme of glutaredoxin 1 (Grx1) present in the mitochondria, however its function is not well understood. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential anti-apoptotic function of Grx2 by examining its ability to protect complex I in the mitochondrial electron transport system using human lens epithelial cells as a model. We found that cells treated with 200μM hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for 24h exhibited decreased viability and became apoptotic with corresponding Bax up-regulation, Bcl-2 down-regulation, caspase 3 activation and mitochondrial cytochrome c leakage. Grx2 over-expression (OE) could protect cells against H2O2-induced damage while Grx2 knockdown (KD) showed the opposite effect. Under the same conditions, H2O2 treatment caused 50% inactivation of complex I activity in control cells (vector only), 75% in Grx2 KD cells but only 20% in Grx2 OE cells. Furthermore, the inactivated complex I in the H2O2-treated cells could be protected mostly by importing the purified nascent Grx2 protein, but not the Grx2 protein mutated at the active site with C70S, or C73S, or with C70S plus C73S. Immunoprecipitation study also revealed that Grx2 co-precipitated with complex I, but not complex II, in the mitochondrial lysate. Thus, the mechanism of Grx2 protection against H2O2-induced apoptosis is likely associated with its ability to preserve complex I. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]