AJP - Cell Physiology, Vol 271, Issue 3 C851-C862, Copyright © 1996 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

Interleukin-1-induced nitric oxide production modulates glutathione synthesis in cultured rat hepatocytes

P. C. Kuo, K. Y. Abe and R. A. Schroeder
Department of Surgery, University of Maryland, Baltimore 21201, USA.

In cultured rat hepatocytes, we have previously demonstrated that inhibition of interleukin-1 (IL-1)-mediated nitric oxide (NO) synthesis is associated with depletion of intracellular reduced glutathione (GSH) in toxin-mediated oxidative injury. To further examine NO's effects on GSH metabolism in rat hepatocytes, IL-1-mediated NO synthesis was examined in the context of 1) cysteine, cystine, and methionine uptake; 2) gene transcription and enzyme activities for gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase, the rate-limiting enzyme in GSH synthesis, glutathione reductase, and glutathione peroxidase; and 3) GSH and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) levels. Inhibition of NO synthesis decreased the GSH content and GSH/GSSG ratio in a guanylyl cyclase-independent fashion. Enzyme activity and steady-state levels of mRNA for gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase were also depressed. Nuclear run-on analysis demonstrated ablation of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase gene transcription. Hepatocellular uptake of cysteine, cystine, and methionine was not altered. Activity and steady-state mRNA levels for glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase were not affected. These results indicate that IL-1-mediated NO synthesis regulates hepatocyte GSH synthesis through a mechanism that is dependent on transcriptional regulation of the rate-limiting enzyme in GSH synthesis. In the setting of oxidative stress and IL-1 exposure, hepatocyte synthesis of NO may be protective through regulation of GSH synthesis.

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