Protein thiol oxidation in murine airway epithelial cells in response to naphthalene or diethyl maleate.

ABSTRACT: Naphthalene (NA) is a semivolatile aromatic hydrocarbon to which humans are exposed from a variety of sources. NA results in acute cytotoxicity to respiratory epithelium in rodents. Cytochrome P450-dependent metabolic activation to form reactive intermediates and loss of soluble cellular thiols (glutathione) are critical steps in NA toxicity, but the precise mechanisms by which this chemical results in cellular injury remain unclear. Protein thiols are likely targets of reactive NA metabolites. Loss of these, through adduction or thiol oxidation mechanisms, may be important underlying mechanisms for NA toxicity. To address the hypothesis that loss of thiols on specific cellular proteins is critical to NA-induced cytotoxicity, we compared reduced to oxidized thiol ratios in airway epithelia

SUBMITTER: Spiess PC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2933547 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature