No abstract

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) has diverse biological functions including its nuclear translocation in response to oxidative stress. We show that GAPDH physically associates with APE1, an essential enzyme involved in the repair of abasic sites in damaged DNA, as well as in the redox regulation of several transcription factors. This interaction allows GAPDH to convert the oxidized species of APE1 to the reduced form, thereby reactivating its endonuclease activity to cleave abasic sites. The GAPDH variants C152G and C156G retain the ability to interact with but are unable to reactivate APE1, implicating these cysteines in catalyzing the reduction of APE1. Interestingly, GAPDH-small interfering RNA knockdown sensitized the cells to methyl methane sulfonate and bleomycin, which generate lesions that are repaired by APE1, but showed normal sensitivity to 254-nm UV. Moreover, the GAPDH knockdown cells exhibited an increased level of spontaneous abasic sites in the genomic DNA as a result of diminished APE1 endonuclease activity. Thus, the nuclear translocation of GAPDH during oxidative stress constitutes a protective mechanism to safeguard the genome by preventing structural inactivation of APE1.The evolutionary conserved enzyme glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) 3 exists as a tetramer that catalyzes a critical reaction in the second stage of the glycolytic pathway (1). It uses the oxidized form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD ϩ ) and converts glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate to 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate with the concomitant release of NADH in an oxido-reduction reaction (1). GAPDH is also a key redox-sensitive protein that possesses an active site cysteine sulfhydryl that is susceptible to oxidation (2). Under oxidative stress, GAPDH rapidly undergoes disulfide bond formation leading to reduction in its enzymatic activity (2, 3). GAPDH has the propensity to interact with several proteins that are vulnerable to aggregation and are associated with neurodegenerative disorders such as in the case of the pro-oxidant amyloid ␤ peptide involved in Alzheimer disease (4). Recent studies have documented that GAPDH is also involved in several other nuclear processes that include histone H2B gene expression, nuclear RNA export, apoptosis, and cellular response to DNA damage (5-8).Several lines of evidence support a role for GAPDH in DNA damage and repair (5, 9). For example, GAPDH can translocate from the cytoplasm to the nucleus when cells are challenged with the potent chemical oxidant and DNA-damaging agent H 2 O 2 , although it is not clear what is the function executed by GAPDH under this stress condition (10). However, a more recent study documented that nitric oxide can also induce nuclear localization of GAPDH where it is acetylated by the acetyltransferase p300/CBP via direct protein interaction, which in turn causes stimulation of the catalytic activity of p300/CBP, resulting in the activation of downstream targets such as p53 (11). Other studies have shown that GAPDH is associated w...

In recent years a number of reports have documented the chemopreventive effect of green tea consumption on various types of cancers such as those of bladder, prostate, esophagus and stomach. This property is attributed to the presence in green tea of polyphenols known as catechins. These include epigallocatechin-3-gallate, epigallocatechin and epicatechin. In addition to their antioxidant properties plant derived polyphenolics are also capable of oxidative DNA damage particularly in the presence of transition metal ions. We have recently proposed a mechanism for cytotoxic action of plant-derived polyphenols against cancer cells that involves mobilization of endogenous copper and consequent prooxidant action. In partial support of the idea, in the present paper we show that water extract of green tea is considerably more efficient than black tea extract in DNA cleavage in the presence of copper ions. Green tea extract also shows a higher rate of Cu(II) reduction and consequent hydroxyl radical formation. Cu(II) reduction is presumably accompanied by the formation of 'oxidized species' of tea polyphenols, which in turn also appear to catalyze the reduction of Cu(II) leading to redox cycling of copper ions. The results are discussed in relation to the structural differences between polyphenols of green and black tea.

No abstract

PTPA, which possesses a peptidyl prolyl isomerase activity, was initially isolated as a protein that stimulates the weak phosphotyrosyl phosphatase activity of the Ser/Thr phosphatase PP2A. Here we show that transient overexpression of PTPA leads to cell death in a time-dependent manner in mammalian cells. PTPA-overproducing cells manifest hallmarks of apoptosis including chromatin condensation, membrane blebbing, positive staining with annexin V, dephosphorylation of Bad, and caspase-3 cleavage. Incubation of cells with the PP2A inhibitor okadaic acid does not prevent either dephosphorylation of Bad or PTPA-induced apoptosis, indicating that PTPA is unlikely to mediate its proapoptotic effect via PP2A. Moreover, we find no evidence for the involvement of either p53 or MAP kinases. Our data reveal a potential novel role for PTPA in the apoptotic process.