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Effects of Menadione, Hydrogen Peroxide, and Quercetin on Apoptosis and Delayed Luminescence of Human Leukemia Jurkat T-Cells

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Abstract

Menadione (MD) is an effective cytotoxic drug able to produce intracellularly large amounts of superoxide anion. Quercetin (QC), a widely distributed bioflavonoid, can exert both antioxidant and pro-oxidant effects and is known to specifically inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in different cancer cell types. We have investigated the relation between delayed luminescence (DL) induced by UV-laser excitation and the effects of MD, hydrogen peroxide, and QC on apoptosis and cell cycle in human leukemia Jurkat T-cells. Treatments with 500 μM H2O2 and 250 μM MD for 20 min produced 66.0 ± 4.9 and 46.4 ± 8.6% apoptotic cell fractions, respectively. Long-term (24 h) pre-exposure to 5 μM, but not 0.5 μM QC enhanced apoptosis induced by MD, whereas short-term (1 h) pre-incubation with 10 μM QC offered 50% protection against H2O2-induced apoptosis, but potentiated apoptosis induced by MD. Since physiological levels of QC in the blood are normally less than 10 μM, these data can provide relevant information regarding the benefits of flavonoid-combined treatments of leukemia. All the three drugs exerted significant effects on DL. Our data are consistent with (1) the involvement of Complex I of the mitochondrial respiratory chain as an important source of delayed light emission on the 10 μs–10 ms scale, (2) the ability of superoxide anions to quench DL on the 100 μs–10 ms scale, probably via inhibition of reverse electron transfer at the Fe/S centers in Complex I, and (3) the relative insensitivity of DL to intracellular OH• and H2O2 levels.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research under CNCSIS-UEFISCSU Grant PNII-IDEI no. 1138/2009, code 1449/2008, and CNMP Grant PNII-Partnership no. 71-073/2007.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biophysics, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Eroii Sanitari, 050474, Bucharest, Romania

    Irina Baran, Constanta Ganea, Eva Katona, Maria-Magdalena Mocanu & Raluca Ungureanu

  2. Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, 62 S. Sofia, Catania, Italy

    Agata Scordino, Francesco Musumeci, Salvatore Tudisco, Simona Privitera, Rosaria Grasso & Marisa Gulino

  3. Dipartimento di Metodologie Fisiche e Chimiche per l’Ingegneria, Università di Catania, 95125, Catania, Italy

    Agata Scordino, Francesco Musumeci, Salvatore Tudisco, Simona Privitera, Rosaria Grasso & Marisa Gulino

  4. Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Sezione di Biochimica e Biologia Molecolare, Università di Catania, 6 A. Doria, 95125, Catania, Italy

    Vincenza Barresi & Daniele F. Condorelli

  5. IFIN-HH, 407 Atomistilor Str., 077125 Magurele, Bucharest, Romania

    Ioan Ursu & Virgil Baran

  6. Department of Immunology, “Victor Babes” National Institute, 99-101 Spl. Independentei, Bucharest, Romania

    Mihaela Surcel & Cornel Ursaciuc

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  1. Irina Baran
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  2. Constanta Ganea
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Correspondence to Irina Baran.

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Baran, I., Ganea, C., Scordino, A. et al. Effects of Menadione, Hydrogen Peroxide, and Quercetin on Apoptosis and Delayed Luminescence of Human Leukemia Jurkat T-Cells. Cell Biochem Biophys 58, 169–179 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-010-9104-1

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