title: Pharmacological rescue of the 14CoS/14CoS mouse: hepatocyte apoptosis is likely caused by endogenous oxidative stress.
abstract: Whereas ch/ch wild-type mice and ch/14CoS heterozygotes are viable, 14CoS/14CoS mice homozygous for a 3800 kb deletion on chromosome 7 die during the first day postpartum. Death is caused by disruption of the fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase (Fah) gene; absence of FAH, final enzyme in the tyrosine catabolism pathway, leads to accumulation of reactive electrophilic intermediates. In this study, we kept 14CoS/14CoS mice alive for 60 d with oral 2-(2-nitro-4-trifluoromethyl-benzyol)-1,3-cyclohexanedione (NTBC), an inhibitor of p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase, second enzyme in the tyrosine catabolic pathway. The 70% of NTBC-treated 14CoS/14CoS mice that survived 60 d showed poor growth and developed corneal opacities, compared with ch/14CoS littermates; NTBC-rescued Fah(-/-) knockout mice did not show growth retardation or ocular toxicity. NTBC-rescued 14CoS/14CoS mice also exhibited a striking oxidative stress response in liver and kidney, as measured by lower GSH levels and mRNA induction of four genes: glutamate cysteine ligase catalytic (Gclc) and modifier (Gclm) subunits, NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (Nqo1), and heme oxygenase-1 (Hmox1). Withdrawal of NTBC for 24-48 h from rescued adult 14CoS/14CoS mice resulted in severe apoptosis of the liver, detected histologically and by cytochrome c release from the mitochondria, increased caspase 3-like activity, and further decreases in GSH content. In kidney, proximal tubular epithelial cells were abnormal. Human hereditary tyrosinemia type I (HT1), caused by mutations in the FAH gene, is an autosomal recessive disorder in which the patient usually dies of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis during early childhood; NTBC treatment is known to prolong HT1 children's lives-although liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, hepatocarcinoma, and corneal opacities sometimes occur. The mouse data in the present study are consistent with the possibility that endogenous oxidative stress-induced apoptosis may be the underlying cause of liver pathology seen in NTBC-treated HT1 patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health and Center for Environmental Genetics (CEG), University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Dieter
authors.forename: Sarah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Freshwater
authors.forename: Marian L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Howard G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Shertzer
authors.forename: Timothy P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Dalton
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Nebert
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D003512:Cyclohexanones / Q000494:pharmacology; D005609:Free Radicals; D005721:Glutamate-Cysteine Ligase / Q000737:chemistry; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D006867:Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009579:Nitrobenzoates / Q000494:pharmacology; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000378:metabolism; D020176:Tyrosinemias / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D003512:Cyclohexanones; D005609:Free Radicals; D009579:Nitrobenzoates; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014443:Tyrosine; D012313:RNA; D006867:Hydrolases; C505407:CASP3 protein, human; C505409:Casp3 protein, mouse; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases; C020156:fumarylacetoacetase; D005721:Glutamate-Cysteine Ligase; D005978:Glutathione; C077073:nitisinone