An SOD-mimicry mechanism underlies the role of nitroxides in protecting papain from oxidative inactivation.

Nitroxide stable free radicals have previously been found to afford protection in various biological systems against diverse types of oxidative stress, including, ischemia/reperfusion, hyperoxia, mechanical trauma, toxic xenobiotics, ionizing radiation, gastric and colonic irritants or strong oxidants. Dismutation of superoxide has originally been suggested to be one of the mechanisms that underlie the anti-oxidant effect of nitroxides. However, no direct evidence has been found, so far, to support this assumption. In the present study, superoxide and H2O2, generated enzymatically, were used to directly inactivate papain, a sulfhydryl enzyme, in vitro. The rate of papain inactivation served to assess the damage. The reaction mixtures contained a chelate in order to prevent the effect of adventitious redox-active metal ions, pre-empt the Fenton reaction and avoid hydroxyl-induced damage. Catalase or SOD alone partially protected the papain from inactivation. The protective effect of nitroxides resembled that of SOD in several aspects: a) nitroxides provided partial protection; b) the protective effect of nitroxides did not increase with the elevation of their concentration (above 0.5 mM); c) the combined addition of SOD and the nitroxide did not provide greater protection than that demonstrated by nitroxides or SOD separately; d) the effects of catalase with the nitroxide were additive; e) the nitroxide, like SOD itself, did not protect papain from H2O2-induced inactivation; f) the nitroxide was found not to be consumed in the course of the reaction but rather to be recycled. The results indicate that: (a) the main species responsible for the papain inactivation in a system in which the effect of transition metals is pre-empted, are O2-. and H2O2; (b) nitroxides inhibit the oxidative damage by removing superoxide not stoichiometrically, but rather catalytically as SOD-mimics; (c) nitroxides do not afford protection when the oxidative damage is induced directly by H2O2 (and not mediated by redox-active metals).