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Pyruvate reduces DNA damage during hypoxia and after reoxygenation in hepatocellular carcinoma cells
Author(s) -
Roudier Emilie,
Bachelet Christine,
Perrin Anne
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the febs journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.981
H-Index - 204
eISSN - 1742-4658
pISSN - 1742-464X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1742-4658.2007.06044.x
Subject(s) - glutathione , hypoxia (environmental) , pyruvic acid , oxidative stress , dna damage , biology , pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase , glycolysis , metabolism , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , pyruvate dehydrogenase complex , chemistry , medicine , dna , oxygen , enzyme , organic chemistry
Pyruvate is located at a crucial crossroad of cellular metabolism between the aerobic and anaerobic pathways. Modulation of the fate of pyruvate, in one direction or another, can be important for adaptative response to hypoxia followed by reoxygenation. This could alter functioning of the antioxidant system and have protective effects against DNA damage induced by such stress. Transient hypoxia and alterations of pyruvate metabolism are observed in tumors. This could be advantageous for cancer cells in such stressful conditions. However, the effect of pyruvate in tumor cells is poorly documented during hypoxia/reoxygenation. In this study, we showed that cells had a greater need for pyruvate during hypoxia. Pyruvate decreased the number of DNA breaks, and might favor DNA repair. We demonstrated that pyruvate was a precursor for the biosynthesis of glutathione through oxidative metabolism in HepG2 cells. Therefore, glutathione decreased during hypoxia, but was restored after reoxygenation. Pyruvate had beneficial effects on glutathione depletion and DNA breaks induced after reoxygenation. Our results provide more evidence that the α‐keto acid promotes the adaptive response to hypoxia followed by reoxygenation. Pyruvate might thus help to protect cancer cells under such stressful conditions, which might be harmful for patients with tumors.