title: Low levels of hydrogen peroxide and L-histidine induce DNA double-strand breakage and apoptosis.
abstract: The results presented in this study demonstrate that L-histidine triggers a lethal response in U937 cells exposed to nontoxic, albeit growth-inhibitory, levels of H2O2. Treatment for 1 h with the cocktail H2O2/L-histidine promotes the formation of a low level of DNA double-strand breaks that are rapidly rejoined, and this process is followed by secondary DNA fragmentation at about 7 h of post-treatment incubation, at which time cells are still viable. The appearance of oligonucleosomal DNA fragments associated with the detection of morphological changes typical of apoptosis strongly suggests that a portion of the cells was undergoing an apoptotic process. The relative level of cells with fragmented chromatin never exceeded 15-20% throughout the 20 h post-treatment incubation. Treatment with high concentrations of H2O2 in the presence of L-histidine was found to trigger necrotic cell death. The results presented in this paper provide further experimental evidence in support of the notion that DNA double-strand breaks mediate the lethal effects of the cocktail H2O2/L-histidine and suggest that this type of DNA lesion can promote both apoptotic and necrotic cell death, depending on the concentration of the oxidant.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Farmacologia e Farmacognosia, Università di Urbino, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Palomba
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brambilla
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brandi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sestili
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cattabeni
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Cantoni
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002460:Cell Line; D004247:DNA / Q000187:drug effects*; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D006639:Histidine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009336:Necrosis
chemical_list: D006639:Histidine; D004247:DNA; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide