Premium
Improvement of cell survival by ammonium ions in glutamine‐deprived cells
Author(s) -
Abusneina Abdelmuhsen,
Gauthier Eric R.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.758.2
Subject(s) - viability assay , glutamine , ammonium chloride , moiety , ammonium , apoptosis , chemistry , chloride , ammonia , sodium , cytosol , cytochrome c , amino acid , biochemistry , stereochemistry , enzyme , organic chemistry
The amino acid L‐glutamine (Gln) is essential to the survival of proliferating cells. How Gln is mechanistically linked to cell survival remains unknown. We wished to determine whether ammonium (NH 4 + ) ions play a role in the survival of Gln‐deprived Sp2/0‐Ag14 (Sp2/0) cells, which undergo apoptosis within minutes of Gln starvation. Supplementation of Gln‐deprived Sp2/0 cultures with NH 4 + chloride led to a significant, concentration‐dependent increase in viability over PBS‐treated control. The addition of 5 mM NH 4 + acetate was more effective in improving viability than 5 mM NH 4 + chloride or 5 mM sodium acetate, suggesting an additive effect between NH 4 + and the organic moiety. Interestingly, the combination of methyl‐pyruvate and NH 4 + chloride did not improve cell viability over NH 4 + chloride alone, suggesting that specific metabolic pathways cooperate with NH 4 + to promote viability. Neither NH 4 + acetate nor NH 4 + chloride prevented caspase‐3 activation or the cytosolic release of cytochrome c, indicating that NH 4 + ions promote survival by interfering with late apoptotic events. This study uncovers an unexpected role for NH 4 + ions in the modulation of cell survival. Funded by NSERC‐Canada.