Schiff bases of putrescine with methylglyoxal protect from cellular damage caused by accumulation of methylglyoxal and reactive oxygen species in Dictyostelium discoideum

Seong-Jun Park; Min-Kyu Kwak; Sa-Ouk Kang

doi:10.1016/j.biocel.2017.03.011

Schiff bases of putrescine with methylglyoxal protect from cellular damage caused by accumulation of methylglyoxal and reactive oxygen species in Dictyostelium discoideum

Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2017 May:86:54-66. doi: 10.1016/j.biocel.2017.03.011. Epub 2017 Mar 19.

Authors

Seong-Jun Park¹, Min-Kyu Kwak², Sa-Ouk Kang³

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Biophysics, School of Biological Sciences, and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.
² Laboratory of Biophysics, School of Biological Sciences, and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: genie6@snu.ac.kr.
³ Laboratory of Biophysics, School of Biological Sciences, and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: kangsaou@snu.ac.kr.

PMID: 28330789
DOI: 10.1016/j.biocel.2017.03.011

Abstract

Polyamines protect protein glycation in cells against the advanced glycation end product precursor methylglyoxal, which is inevitably produced during glycolysis, and the enzymes that detoxify this α-ketoaldehyde have been widely studied. Nonetheless, nonenzymatic methylglyoxal-scavenging molecules have not been sufficiently studied either in vitro or in vivo. Here, we hypothesized reciprocal regulation between polyamines and methylglyoxal modeled in Dictyostelium grown in a high-glucose medium. We based our hypothesis on the reaction between putrescine and methylglyoxal in putrescine-deficient (odc^-) or putrescine-overexpressing (odc^oe) cells. In these strains, growth and cell cycle were found to be dependent on cellular methylglyoxal and putrescine contents. The odc^- cells showed growth defects and underwent G1 phase cell cycle arrest, which was efficiently reversed by exogenous putrescine. Cellular methylglyoxal, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and glutathione levels were remarkably changed in odc^oe cells and odc̄ cells. These results revealed that putrescine may act as an intracellular scavenger of methylglyoxal and ROS. Herein, we observed interactions of putrescine and methylglyoxal via formation of a Schiff base complex, by UV-vis spectroscopy, and confirmed this adduct by liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry via electrospray ionization. Schiff bases were isolated, analyzed, and predicted to have molecular masses ranging from 124 to 130. We showed that cellular putrescine-methylglyoxal Schiff bases were downregulated in proportion to the levels of endogenous or exogenous putrescine and glutathione in the odc mutants. The putrescine-methylglyoxal Schiff base affected endogenous metabolite levels. This is the first report showing that cellular methylglyoxal functions as a signaling molecule through reciprocal interactions with polyamines by forming Schiff bases.

Keywords: Dictyostelium discoideum; Methylglyoxal; Ornithine decarboxylase; Polyamine; Putrescine; Putrescine-methylglyoxal Schiff base.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cell Cycle / drug effects
Cell Proliferation / drug effects
Cell Survival / drug effects
Cytoprotection / drug effects*
Dictyostelium / cytology
Dictyostelium / drug effects*
Dictyostelium / metabolism
Putrescine / chemistry*
Putrescine / pharmacology*
Pyruvaldehyde / chemistry*
Pyruvaldehyde / metabolism*
Reactive Oxygen Species / metabolism*
Schiff Bases / chemistry

Substances

Reactive Oxygen Species
Schiff Bases
Pyruvaldehyde
Putrescine