Effect of nitric oxide synthase induction on the expression of mitochondrial respiratory chain enzyme subunits in mixed cortical and astroglial cell cultures

In the present study we evaluated the effects of NO synthase (NOS) induction on the regulation of cytochrome c oxidase (CO) and F 0F 1-ATPase subunit expression in astroglial and mixed cortical cell cultures. In mixed cortical cell cultures, 18 h of treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 0.1 μg/mL) plus interferon-γ (INFγ, 10 U/mL) caused an increase of mRNAs for CO-I, F 0F 1-ATPase 6 and also for iNOS at 20 DIV. The induction of both CO-I and F 0F 1-ATPase 6 was abolished by the NOS inhibitor N-monomethyl-L-arginine (NMMA) or by the enzymatic scavenger superoxide dismutase/catalase (SOD/CAT). In primary astroglial cell cultures, treatment for 18 h with increasing concentrations of LPS and INFγ, produced an increase in the amount of mitochondrial encoded CO-I and -II subunits, with no significant modifications of nuclear encoded subunits IV. An increase was also observed at level of transcription for CO-I and -II, and F 0F 1-ATPase 6 mRNAs. These effects were abolished by addition of NMMA or SOD/CAT. mRNA induction of CO-I was higher in mixed cortical than in astroglial cell cultures while that of F 0F 1-ATPase 6 was similar in both cell types. These results suggest that the expression of mitochondrial encoded subunits (CO-I, CO-II and F 0F 1-ATPase 6) is up-regulated in response to oxygen and NO reactive species. The activity of cytochrome c oxidase decreased after LPS/INFγ treatment in both astroglial and mixed cortical cultures. The activity of ATP synthase was unmodified, while ATP content drastically decreased after LPS/INFγ treatment, in both astroglial and mixed cortical cultures. The enzymatic activities of catalase and Mc-SOD (mitochondrial) showed a significant increase after LPS/INFγ treatment, which was abolished by NMMA.