Microsomal ATPase activity in HepG2 cells showed two components: 1) a Ca
2+-independent activity (around 10% of the total), which did not show significant differences between C34 and E47 cells; and 2) a Ca
2+-dependent activity (around 90% of the total), which showed a significant 55% decrease in E47 with respect to C34 cells. This suggests that CYP2E1 overexpression inhibits microsomal Ca
2+-dependent ATPase activity in intact HepG2 cells. The ATPase activity of rat liver microsomes also showed Ca
2+ dependent and independent components, the Ca
2+-dependent component being involved in Ca2+ pumping across the microsomal membrane (
Dawson and Fulton, 1983). In our model, ATP-dependent microsomal Ca
2+ uptake was significantly lower in E47 cells with respect to control C34 cells (), suggesting that the decreased Ca
2+-dependent ATPase activity in CYP2E1 overexpressing cells is associated with decreased calcium pumping activity across the microsomal membrane.
Several possibilities may explain the loss of Ca
2+-ATPase activity with oxidation: (i) sensitive cysteine sulfhydryl groups, and/or other critical amino acids (such as met, lys, tyr and others) of the Ca
2+-ATPase pump may be oxidized; (ii) membrane lipids may be oxidized and may indirectly oxidize the Ca
2+-ATPase pump, or lipid oxidation products may induce a structural change in the lipid bilayer which indirectly inhibits the Ca
2+-ATPase pump activity; (iii) oxidation-related protein fragmentation or protein cross-linking may inhibit the activity of the pump. A review of the literature shows that the mechanism for oxidative inhibition of Ca
2+-ATPase activity depends on the model system under study (enzyme isoform, enzymatic source, type of oxidants, oxidant exposure). For example, AAPH-derived radicals (peroxyl, alkoxyl) decreased SERCA activity in rabbit muscle SR vesicles, associated with the formation of intermolecular bityrosine cross-links, but not with lipid peroxidation, protein fragmentation, or oxidation of sulfhydryl groups (
Viner et al., 1997). Fe
2+/ascorbate/H
2O
2 induced SERCA fragmentation and inhibition; inhibition of enzymatic activity was not associated with lipid peroxidation or oxidation of sulfhydryl groups (
Castilho et al., 1996). Peroxynitrite inactivated SR membranes by oxidation of thiol groups and tyrosine nitration (
Gutierrez-Martin et al., 2004). Hydrogen peroxide and peroxydisulfate inhibited Ca
2+-ATPase in SR microsomes by oxidation of sulfhydryl groups, independent of lipid oxidation or protein crosslinking (
Scherer and Deamer, 1986). High intensity exercise produced SERCA inactivation associated to oxidation of amino acids other than cysteine (
Matsunaga et al., 2003). In our model of cellular CYP2E1 overexpression, inhibition of microsomal Ca
2+ ATPase activity was not associated with a decrease in SERCA levels, or SERCA protein fragmentation (). The inhibition of microsomal Ca
2+ ATPase in CYP2E1 overexpressing cells was significantly prevented by N-acetylcysteine which also decreased intracellular ROS levels, but not by vitamin E. This result suggests that the CYP2E1-dependent effects on Ca
2+-ATPase activities are not mediated by lipid peroxidation byproducts, but probably by other reactive oxygen species. Oxidative damage of the microsomal Ca
2+ ATPase activity was associated with changes in Vmax but not in Km, suggesting that the apparent affinity of the enzyme for calcium and ATP remains intact after CYP2E1 overexpression. The exact nature of the CYP2E1-dependent oxidative damage on microsomal Ca2+-ATPase will be evaluated in future experiments.
Several authors have previously shown that SERCA 2b (the isoform present in liver) is particularly susceptible to oxidative stress (
Grover et al., 2003) with respect to other ATPases; our data showing the differential sensitivity of the Ca2+-dependent versus Ca2+ independent ATPase towards CYP2E1 overexpression suggests that the Ca2+ dependent ATPase activity in HepG2 cells is more sensitive to oxidative stress than the Ca2+-independent ATPase.
The Ca
2+-ATPase of sarcoplasmic or endoplasmic reticulum is the major active calcium transport protein responsible for the maintenance of normal intracellular calcium levels in a variety of cell types. Hence the potential oxidative damage of these Ca
2+-ATPases by reactive oxygen species may contribute to the increased levels of intracellular calcium that lead to cellular damage. In previous work, CYP2E1 overexpression has been associated with changes in calcium metabolism, mainly increase in cytosolic calcium (
Caro and Cederbaum 2002;
Caro and Cederbaum 2007). Arachidonic acid, or arachidonic acid + iron treatment of CYP2E1 overexpressing cells induced an increase in cytosolic calcium, associated with calpain and/or phospholipase A2 activation, and partially linked to increased calcium influx from intracellular stores (
Caro and Cederbaum 2002;
Caro and Cedebaum 2003;
Caro and Cederbaum 2007). Preventing the increase in cytosolic calcium or the activities of calcium-stimulated hydrolases such as calpain and phospholipase A2 prevented the CYP2E1-dependent toxicity to the cells. SERCA may be a target for CYP2E1-generated ROS as shown in this report. A decreased Ca
2+-ATPase activity in CYP2E1 expressing cells may contribute to changes in calcium homeostasis in conditions where CYP2E1 is induced.