|
Glutathione (GSH) is an important antioxidant that protects cells from free radicals and toxins that lead to oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is a large increase in cellular reduction potential or a large decrease in the reducing capacity of redox couples. It is caused by an imbalance between reactive oxygen species within the body and the body’s ability to readily detoxify reactive intermediates or repair damage. We used NR8383 cells, a mature and fully differentiated rat alveolar macrophage, to examine the effects of extracellular GSH and its oxidized moiety GSSG. To examine the effect of extracellular GSH/GSSG on monocyte differentiation, we used U937 cells, a human monocyte cell line, treated with phorbol acetate (PMA) to promote maturation and differentiation. To assess differentiation, we assessed expression of PU.1, a signal transducer associated with differentiation.
Exposure to extracellular glutathione did not produce a significant difference in either cell line but, the U-937 alcoholics group (GSH 100uM) should be run again because 2 out of 3 of the experiments showed a 50% decrease in PU.1 while the third showed an increase.
For a future direction, cells should be treated longer than a week for extracellular glutathione to have an impact
I would like to thank Frank Harris, Leandrea Burwell, and Tim Tolentino for laboratory assistance, and Dr. Lou Ann Brown for advice and guidance. This material is based upon work supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute under Grant No. 52005873, the Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences of Emory University and the Emory Alcohol and Lung Biology Center.
Brown LAS, Harris FL, Ping XD, and Gauthier TW. 2004. Chronic ethanol ingestion and the risk of acute lung injury: A role for glutathione availability? Alcohol Volume 33, Issue 3: 191-197
T.W. Gauthier, Brown, Lou Ann S., Xiao-Du Ping, and Frank L. Harris. 2006. Glutathione availability modulates alveolar macrophage function in the chronic ethanol-fed rat. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 292: 824-832
|
