Kanzawa Nobuyuki, Shintani Satoko, Ohta Kazumasa, Kitajima Seiji, Ehara Tatsuya, Kobayashi Hiroko, Kizaki Harutoshi, Tsuchiya Takahide
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sophia University, 102-8554 Tokyo, Japan.
Arch Biochem Biophys. 2004 Feb 1;422(1):103-9. doi: 10.1016/j.abb.2003.12.007.
Achacin, which belongs to the L-amino acid oxidase group, oxidizes free amino acids and produces hydrogen peroxide in cell culture systems. Morphological changes in cells incubated with achacin were similar to those of cells incubated with H(2)O(2). In both cases, the end result was cell death. To examine the mechanism of achacin-associated cytotoxicity, the H(2)O(2) scavenger catalase was added to culture media. Features typical of apoptosis, including morphological changes, DNA fragmentation, and PARP cleavage, were observed when cells were incubated with achacin in the presence of catalase. Moreover, apoptosis was inhibited by Z-VAD-fmk, a broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor. Herein, we present evidence that two pathways are involved in achacin-induced cell death. One is direct generation of H(2)O(2) through the L-amino acid oxidase activity of achacin. The other is the caspase-mediated apoptotic pathway that is induced by depletion of L-amino acids by achacin.
