Abstract: Autophagy is involved in human diseases and is regulated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) including superoxide (O(2)(*-)) and hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)). However, the relative functions of O(2)(*-) and H(2)O(2) in regulating autophagy are unknown. In this study, autophagy was induced by starvation, mitochondrial electron transport inhibitors, and exogenous H(2)O(2). We found that O(2)(*-) was selectively induced by starvation of glucose, L-glutamine, pyruvate, and serum (GP) whereas starvation of amino acids and serum (AA) induced O(2)(*-) and H(2)O(2). Both types of starvation induced autophagy and autophagy was inhibited by overexpression of SOD2 (manganese superoxide dismutase, Mn-SOD), which reduced O(2)(*-) levels but increased H(2)O(2) levels. Starvation-induced autophagy was also inhibited by the addition of catalase, which reduced both O(2)(*-) and H(2)O(2) levels. Starvation of GP or AA also induced cell death that was increased following treatment with autophagy inhibitors 3-methyladenine, and wortamannin. Mitochondrial electron transport chain (mETC) inhibitors in combination with the SOD inhibitor 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME) increased O(2)(*-) levels, lowered H(2)O(2) levels, and increased autophagy. In contrast to starvation, cell death induced by mETC inhibitors was increased by 2-ME. Finally, adding exogenous H(2)O(2) induced autophagy and increased intracellular O(2)(*-) but failed to increase intracellular H(2)O(2). Taken together, these findings indicate that O(2)(*-) is the major ROS-regulating autophagy.

Abstract: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been identified as signaling molecules in various pathways regulating both cell survival and cell death. Autophagy, a self-digestion process that degrades intracellular structures in response to stress such as nutrient starvation, is also involved in both cell survival and cell death. Alterations in both ROS and autophagy regulation contribute to cancer initiation and progression, and both are targets for developing therapies to selectively induce cell death in cancer cells. Indeed, many stimuli that induce ROS generation also induce autophagy, including nutrient starvation, mitochondrial toxins, hypoxia and oxidative stress. Some of these stimuli are under clinical investigation as cancer treatments, such as 2-methoxyestrodial and arsenic trioxide. Recently, it has been demonstrated that ROS can induce autophagy through several distinct mechanisms involving Atg4, catalase and the mitochondrial electron transport chain (mETC). This leads to both cell survival and cell death responses and could be selective towards cancer cells. In this review, we will give an overview of the roles ROS and autophagy play in cell survival and cell death, and their importance to cancer. Furthermore, we will describe how autophagy is mediated by ROS and the implications of this regulation to cancer treatments.

Abstract: Autophagy is a conserved lysosomal degradation pathway that has been extensively studied in recent years. However, the mechanism of autophagy induction is still not clear. Mitochondria are important regulators of both apoptosis and autophagy. One of the triggers for mitochondrial mediated apoptosis is the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Recently, several studies have indicated that ROS may be also involved in induction of autophagy. ROS are molecules or ions that are formed by the incomplete one-electron reduction of oxygen, including superoxide (O2 (*-)), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxyl radical ((*)OH), nitric oxide (NO), and peroxynitrite (ONOO-). Our recent studies provide strong evidences for the involvement of mitochondrially-generated ROS production in the induction of autophagy as determined by the formation of autophagosomes and autolysosomes. This was accomplished through treatment with mitochondrial toxins that inhibit the electron transport chain in transformed and cancer cells. In addition, we have determined that H2O2 and 2-methoxyestradiol (inhibitor of superoxide dismutases and electron transport chain) induce autophagy leading to cell death. In contrast, normal astrocytes fail to induce autophagy following treatment with mitochondrial toxins. Herein, we discuss several important points of our studies and provide a model for mitochondrially-induced autophagic cell death mediated by ROS.

Abstract: Autophagy is a self-digestion process that degrades intracellular structures in response to stresses leading to cell survival. When autophagy is prolonged, this could lead to cell death. Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) through oxidative stress causes cell death. The role of autophagy in oxidative stress-induced cell death is unknown. In this study, we report that two ROS-generating agents, hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) and 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME), induced autophagy in the transformed cell line HEK293 and the cancer cell lines U87 and HeLa. Blocking this autophagy response using inhibitor 3-methyladenine or small interfering RNAs against autophagy genes, beclin-1, atg-5 and atg-7 inhibited H(2)O(2) or 2-ME-induced cell death. H(2)O(2) and 2-ME also induced apoptosis but blocking apoptosis using the caspase inhibitor zVAD-fmk (benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp fluoromethylketone) failed to inhibit autophagy and cell death suggesting that autophagy-induced cell death occurred independent of apoptosis. Blocking ROS production induced by H(2)O(2) or 2-ME through overexpression of manganese-superoxide dismutase or using ROS scavenger 4,5-dihydroxy-1,3-benzene disulfonic acid-disodium salt decreased autophagy and cell death. Blocking autophagy did not affect H(2)O(2)- or 2-ME-induced ROS generation, suggesting that ROS generation occurs upstream of autophagy. In contrast, H(2)O(2) or 2-ME failed to significantly increase autophagy in mouse astrocytes. Taken together, ROS induced autophagic cell death in transformed and cancer cells but failed to induce autophagic cell death in non-transformed cells.

Abstract: Hypoxia (lack of oxygen) is a physiological stress often associated with solid tumors. Hypoxia correlates with poor prognosis since hypoxic regions within tumors are considered apoptosisresistant. Autophagy (cellular "self digestion") has been associated with hypoxia during cardiac ischemia and metabolic stress as a survival mechanism. However, although autophagy is best characterized as a survival response, it can also function as a mechanism of programmed cell death. Our results show that autophagic cell death is induced by hypoxia in cancer cells with intact apoptotic machinery. We have analyzed two glioma cell lines (U87, U373), two breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, ZR75) and one embryonic cell line (HEK293) for cell death response in hypoxia (<1% O(2)). Under normoxic conditions, all five cell lines undergo etoposide-induced apoptosis whereas hypoxia fails to induce these apoptotic responses. All five cell lines induce an autophagic response and undergo cell death in hypoxia. Hypoxia-induced cell death was reduced upon treatment with the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine, but not with the caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk. By knocking down the autophagy proteins Beclin-1 or ATG5, hypoxia-induced cell death was also reduced. The pro-cell death Bcl-2 family member BNIP3 (Bcl-2/adenovirus E1B 19kDainteracting protein 3) is upregulated during hypoxia and is known to induce autophagy and cell death. We found that BNIP3 overexpression induced autophagy, while expression of BNIP3 siRNA or a dominant-negative form of BNIP3 reduced hypoxia-induced autophagy. Taken together, these results suggest that prolonged hypoxia induces autophagic cell death in apoptosis-competent cells, through a mechanism involving BNIP3.

Abstract: Autophagy is a self-digestion process important for cell survival during starvation. It has also been described as a form of programmed cell death. Mitochondria are important regulators of autophagy-induced cell death and damaged mitochondria are often degraded by autophagosomes. Inhibition of the mitochondrial electron transport chain (mETC) induces cell death through generating reactive oxygen species (ROS). The role of mETC inhibitors in autophagy-induced cell death is unknown. Herein, we determined that inhibitors of complex I (rotenone) and complex II (TTFA) induce cell death and autophagy in the transformed cell line HEK 293, and in cancer cell lines U87 and HeLa. Blocking the expression of autophagic genes (beclin 1 and ATG5) by siRNAs or using the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA) decreased cell death that was induced by rotenone or TTFA. Rotenone and TTFA induce ROS production, and the ROS scavenger tiron decreased autophagy and cell death induced by rotenone and TTFA. Overexpression of manganese-superoxide dismutase (SOD2) in HeLa cells decreased autophagy and cell death induced by rotenone and TTFA. Furthermore, blocking SOD2 expression by siRNA in HeLa cells increased ROS generation, autophagy and cell death induced by rotenone and TTFA. Rotenone- and TTFA-induced ROS generation was not affected by 3-MA, or by beclin 1 and ATG5 siRNAs. By contrast, treatment of non-transformed primary mouse astrocytes with rotenone or TTFA failed to significantly increase levels of ROS or autophagy. These results indicate that targeting mETC complex I and II selectively induces autophagic cell death through a ROS-mediated mechanism.

Abstract: Oxidation of endogenous substrate(s) of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans with O2 or Fe3+ as electron acceptor was studied in the presence of uncouplers and electron transport inhibitors. Endogenous substrate was oxidized with a respiratory quotient (CO2 produced/O2 consumed) of 1.0, indicating its carbohydrate nature. The oxidation was inhibited by complex I inhibitors (rotenone, amytal, and piericidin A) only partially, but piericidin A inhibited the oxidation with Fe3+ nearly completely. The oxidation was stimulated by uncouplers, and the stimulated activity was more sensitive to inhibition by complex I inhibitors. HQNO (2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide) also stimulated the oxidation, and the stimulated respiration was more sensitive to KCN inhibition than uncoupler stimulated respiration. Fructose, among 20 sugars and sugar alcohols including glucose and mannose, was oxidized with a CO2/O2 ratio of 1.0 by the organism. Iron chelators in general stimulated endogenous respiration, but some of them reduced Fe3+ chemically, introducing complications. The results are discussed in view of a branched electron transport system of the organism and its possible control.

Abstract: Oxidation of Fe2+, ascorbic acid, propyl gallate, tiron, L-cysteine, and glutathione by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans was studied with respect to the effect of electron transport inhibitors and uncouplers on the rate of oxidation. All the oxidations were sensitive to inhibitors of cytochrome c oxidase, KCN, and NaN3. They were also partially inhibited by inhibitors of complex I and complex III of the electron transport system. Uncouplers at low concentrations stimulated the oxidation and inhibited it at higher concentrations. The oxidation rates of Fe2+ and L-cysteine inhibited by complex I and complex III inhibitors (amytal, rotenone, antimycin A, myxothiazol, and HQNO) were stimulated more extensively by uncouplers than the control rates. Atabrine, a flavin antagonist, was an exception, and atabrine-inhibited oxidation activities of all these compounds were further inhibited by uncouplers. A model for the electron transport pathways of A. ferrooxidans is proposed to account for these results. In the model these organic substrates reduce ferric iron on the surface of cells to ferrous iron, which is oxidized back to ferric iron through the Fe2+ oxidation pathway, leading to cytochrome oxidase to O2. Some of electrons enter the uphill (energy-requiring) electron transport pathway to reduce NAD+. Uncouplers at low concentrations stimulate Fe2+ oxidation by stimulating cytochrome oxidase by uncoupling. Higher concentrations lower deltap to the level insufficient to overcome the potentially uphill reaction at rusticyanin-cytochrome c4. Inhibition of uphill reactions at complex I and complex III leads to deltap accumulation and inhibition of cytochrome oxidase. Uncouplers remove the inhibition of deltap and stimulate the oxidation. Atabrine inhibition is not released by uncouplers, which implies a possibility of atabrine inhibition at a site other than complex I, but a site somehow involved in the Fe2+ oxidation pathway.

Abstract: Oxidation of ferrous iron (Fe2+) to ferric iron (Fe3+) with oxygen (O2) by Acidithiobacillus (Thiobacillus) ferrooxidans is considered to be inhibited by uncouplers. Oxidation of the endogenous substrates (presumably NADH) with O2 or Fe3+, on the other hand, was stimulated by uncouplers, 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) and carbonylcyanide-m-chlorophenyl-hydrazone (CCCP), as expected in respiratorily controlled mitochondria or heterotrophic bacteria. Amytal and rotenone were inhibitory. Fe3+ reduction by endogenous substrates was studied extensively and was found to be stimulated by a permeable anion, SCN- and weak acids, as well as the above uncouplers. Proton translocating properties of some of these stimulators were shown by following a pH change in the cell suspension. It was concluded that any compounds that destroy proton electrochemical gradient, Deltap, stimulated endogenous respiration. Stimulation of Fe2+ or ascorbate oxidation by lower concentrations of uncouplers was successfully demonstrated by shortening the reaction time, but only to a small extent. Uncouplers at concentrations stimulatory to endogenous respiration inhibited Fe2+ oxidation if present before Fe2+ addition. The inhibition by 10 microM CCCP was reversed by washing the cells in a buffer. Complex I inhibitors, atabrine, rotenone and amytal inhibited Fe2+ oxidation, more strongly in the presence of 0.1 mM DNP. It is proposed that Fe2+ oxidation required Deltap perhaps to climb an energetically uphill reaction or to reduce NAD+ to NADH by reversed electron flow for CO2 fixation. The latter interpretation implies some obligatory coupling between Fe2+ oxidation and NAD+ reduction.