title: Paraquat-induced cell death in PC12 cells.
abstract: Paraquat was taken up by PC12 cells in a carrier-mediated, saturable manner. When PC12 cells were permeabilized with digitonin (50 microg/ml) lipid peroxidation was observed after paraquat treatment in the presence of NADPH and chelated iron. The fact that lipid peroxidation preceded the appearance of LDH release provides positive evidence that lipid peroxidation may be one of the important factors leading to cytotoxicity of cells. Furthermore, the fact that addition of superoxide dismutase, catalase and promethazine efficiently blocked the malondialdehyde formation and attenuated the cell death indicated the involvement of reactive oxygen radicals in mediating the cytotoxicity induced by paraquat. Taken together the results present in vitro evidence that neurotoxicity of paraquat may be a consequence of cellular lipid peroxidation, which leads to cell death and may have great implications in assessing the risk of exposure to paraquat in Parkinson's disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Missouri, Columbia 65212, USA.
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: A Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects*; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability / Q000187:drug effects; D006540:Herbicides / Q000633:toxicity*; D007501:Iron / Q000502:physiology; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000187:drug effects; D016716:PC12 Cells; D010269:Paraquat / Q000633:toxicity*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D006540:Herbicides; D007501:Iron; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D010269:Paraquat