title: Can electrons travel through actin microfilaments and generate oxidative stress in retinol treated Sertoli cell?
abstract: In early reports our research group has demonstrated that 7 microM retinol (vitamin A) treatment leads to many changes in Sertoli cell metabolism, such as up-regulation of antioxidant enzyme activities, increase in damage to biomolecules, abnormal cellular division, pre-neoplasic transformation, and cytoskeleton conformational changes. These effects were observed to be dependent on the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), suggesting extra-nuclear (non-genomic) effects of retinol metabolism. Besides 7 microM retinol treatment causing oxidative stress, we have demonstrated that changes observed in cytoskeleton of Sertoli cells under these conditions were protective, and seem to be an adaptive phenomenon against a pro-oxidant environment resulting from retinol treatment. We have hypothesized that the cytoskeleton can conduct electrons through actin microfilaments, which would be a natural process necessary for cell homeostasis. In the present study we demonstrate results correlating retinol metabolism, actin architecture, mitochondria physiology and ROS, in order to demonstrate that the electron conduction through actin microfilaments might explain our results. We believe that electrons produced by retinol metabolism are dislocated through actin microfilaments to mitochondria, and are transferred to electron transport chain to produce water. When mitochondria capacity to receive electrons is overloaded, superoxide radical production is increased and the oxidative stress process starts. Our results suggested that actin cytoskeleton is essential to oxidative stress production induced by retinol treatment, and electrons conduction through actin microfilaments can be the key of this correlation.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Centro de Estudos em Estresse Oxidativo, Laboratório 32, ICBS-Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Ramiro Barcelos 2600 anexo, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. ramatusoliveira@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Ramatis Birnfeld
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Matheus Augusto
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: de Bittencourt Pasquali
authors.forename: Alfeu Zanotto
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Filho
authors.forename: Rodrigo Juliani Siqueira
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Dalmolin
authors.forename: Daniel Pens
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Gelain
authors.forename: Carmem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gottfried
authors.forename: José Luiz
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: Fábio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Klamt
authors.forename: José Cláudio Fonseca
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Moreira
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000818:Animals; D003571:Cytochalasin B / Q000378:metabolism; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004583:Electrons; D008297:Male; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010766:Phosphorylation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D012708:Sertoli Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014815:Vitamins / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D014815:Vitamins; D014801:Vitamin A; D003571:Cytochalasin B