Abstract
Specific tissue responses to thyroid hormone are mediated by the hormone binding to two subtypes of nuclear receptors, TRα and TRβ. We investigated the relationship between TRβ activation and liver oxidative metabolism in hypothyroid rats treated with equimolar doses of triiodothyronine (T3) and GC-1, a TRβ agonist. T3 treatment produces increases in O2 consumption and H2O2 production higher than those elicited by GC-1. The greater effects of T3 on oxidative processes are linked to the higher hormonal stimulation of the content of respiratory chain components including autoxidizable electron carriers as demonstrated by the measurement of activities of respiratory complexes and H2O2 generation in the presence of respiratory inhibitors. It is conceivable that these differential effects are dependent on the inability of GC-1 to stimulate TRα receptors that are likely involved in the expression of some components of the respiratory chain. The greater increases in reactive oxygen species production and susceptibility to oxidants exhibited by mitochondria from T3-treated rats are consistent with their higher lipid and protein oxidative damage and lower resistance to Ca2+ load. The T3 and GC-1 effects on the expression levels of nuclear respiratory factor-1 and -2 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α suggest the involvement of respiratory factors in the agonist-linked changes in mitochondrial respiratory capacities and H2O2 production.
Introduction
Triiodothyronine (T3) is involved in a variety of physiological processes including energy expenditure regulation. It, indeed, increases basal metabolic rate as a result of the stimulation of numerous metabolic pathways (Silva 1995). Because of its metabolic effects, an excess of thyroid hormone might be beneficial in some disorders such as obesity (Krotkiewski 2002) and dyslipidemia (Hansson et al. 1983). However, thyroid hormone also elicits unwanted side effects, including cardiac dysfunction (Klein & Ojamaa 2001), bone mass loss (Wagasugi et al. 1994), and oxidative stress development in target tissues (Venditti & Di Meo 2006).
Most of the T3 effects are due to the hormone binding to two subtypes of nuclear receptors (TRs), TRα and TRβ, which are encoded by two different genes and can selectively mediate some specific thyroid hormone responses (Forrest & Vennström 2000). Studies on mutant mice have shown that TRα mediates T3 effects on heart rate and modulates body temperature, whereas TRβ mediates the cholesterol-lowering and TSH-suppression effects of T3 (Forrest & Vennström 2000). Recently, the availability of the TRβ-selective agonist, 3,5-dimethhyl-4-(4′-hydroxy-3′-isopropylbenzyl)phenoxy acetic acid (GC-1), has allowed to confirm the above results. Indeed, GC-1 has been shown to lower both serum cholesterol and triglycerides, in measure equal to or greater than T3, without significant stimulation of the heart rate (Trost et al. 2000), and elicit body weight (BW) loss, resulting from a modest increase in metabolic rate (Grover et al. 2004). The potential use of GC-1 for obesity and hypercholesterolemia treatment has been highlighted by the finding that it induces other desirable effects of thyroid hormone. Indeed, GC-1 treatment prevents fat mass accumulation, does not elicit deleterious effects on skeletal muscle (Villicev et al. 2007), and does not result in bone loss typical of T3-induced thyrotoxicosis (Freitas et al. 2003). More recently, it has been reported that GC-1 treatment of hypothyroid rats produces increases in tissue oxidative damage smaller than those elicited by T3 treatment (Venditti et al. 2009a), thus showing that GC-1 limits another detrimental effect of T3.
To date, information on mechanisms underlying the relationship between TRβ activation and tissue oxidative metabolism is lacking. Because aerobic metabolism in eukaryotic cells is largely dependent on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, and mitochondria also represent the main source of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the above-mentioned mechanisms can be understood by studying the effects of TRβ activation on mitochondrial population characteristics. Thus, in the present study, we compared the effects of T3 and GC-1 administration to hypothyroid rats on respiratory capacities and ROS generation in rat liver mitochondria. The metabolic responses were related to changes in the expression levels of nuclear respiratory factor-1 and -2 (NRF-1 and -2) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1 or PPARGC1A), which play a role in the mitochondrial biogenesis (Scarpulla 2002), and they are regulated by thyroid hormone (Weitzel et al. 2001, Venditti et al. 2009b).
Materials and Methods
Materials
All chemicals used (Sigma Chimica) were of the highest available grades. GC-1 was synthesized as described by Chiellini et al. (1998). Response to oxidative stress was determined using reagents and instrumentation of the commercially available Amerlite system (Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Milano, Italy).
Animals
The experiments were carried out on 70-day-old male Wistar rats, supplied by Nossan (Correzzana, Italy) at day 45 of age. From day 49, animals were randomly assigned to one of four groups: euthyroid control group (C), hypothyroid rats (H), hypothyroid rats treated with T3 (H+T3), and hypothyroid rats treated with GC-1 (H+GC-1). In H rats, both thyroid and deiodinase activities were chronically inhibited by i.p. administration of 6 propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU) (1 mg/100 g BW, once per day for 3 weeks) and iopanoic acid (IOP; 6 mg/100 g BW, at days 10, 13, 16, 19, and 21 after the first PTU injection) respectively. The other rats, which underwent the same treatment of H rats, were also i.p. administered with equimolar doses of T3 or GC-1 (15.36 nmol/100 g BW, once a day for 10 days before killing). All rats were kept under the same environmental conditions and were provided with water ad libitum and commercial rat chow diet (Nossan).
The treatment of animals in these experiments was in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the University's Animal Care Review Committee.
Liver homogenate preparation
The animals, anesthetized with Ethrane (Abbot), were killed by decapitation, and livers were rapidly excised and were placed into ice-cold homogenization medium (HM; 220 mM mannitol, 70 mM sucrose, 1 mM EDTA, 0.1% fatty acid-free albumin, 10 mM Tris, pH 7.4). Liver fragments were cut and used for western blotting. Subsequently, liver was freed from connective tissue, weighed, finely minced, and washed with HM. Tissue fragments were gently homogenized (20% w/v) in HM using a glass Potter-Elvehjem homogenizer set at a standard velocity (500 r.p.m.) for 1 min. Aliquots of homogenates were used for cytochrome oxidase determination and preparation of mitochondrial fractions.
Preparation of mitochondria
The homogenates, diluted 1:1 with HM, were freed of debris and nuclei by centrifugation at 500 g for 10 min at 4 °C. The resulting supernatants were centrifuged at 10 000 g for 10 min. The mitochondrial pellets were resuspended in washing buffer (WB; 220 mM mannitol, 70 mM sucrose, 1 mM EGTA, 20 mM Tris, pH 7.4), and were centrifuged at the same sedimentation velocity. Mitochondrial preparations were washed in this manner twice before final suspension in WB. The protein concentrations of the mitochondrial fractions were measured by the biuret method (Gornall et al. 1949).
Analytical procedures
For determination of liver cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity, homogenate suspensions were diluted with modified Chappel–Perry medium so that the preparations contained 100 mg of tissue per ml. COX activity was determined polarographically at 30 °C using a Gilson glass respirometer equipped with a Clark oxygen electrode (Yellow Springs Instruments Co., Yellow Springs, OH, USA) by the procedure of Barré et al. (1987).
Mitochondrial oxygen consumption was monitored at 30 °C by a Gilson respirometer in 1.6 ml of incubation medium (145 mM KCl, 30 mM HEPES, 5 mM KH2PO4, 3 mM MgCl2, and 0.1 mM EGTA, pH 7.4) with 0.25 mg of mitochondria per ml, and succinate (10 mM), plus 5 μM rotenone (Rot), or pyruvate/malate (10/2.5 mM) as substrates, in the absence (state 4) and in the presence (state 3) of 500 μM ADP.
The activities of the mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes were also measured. The activities of the first three complexes of the electron transport system were measured by a Beckman (Fullerton, CA, USA) spectrophotometer (model DU 640) using the method of Ragan et al. (1987). Complex IV (COX) activity was determined polarographically, as described previously (Barrè et al. 1987), on mitochondrial suspensions diluted with modified Chappel–Perry medium so that the preparations contained 0.2 mg of mitochondrial proteins per ml.
The extent of the peroxidation processes was determined by measuring the level of lipid hydroperoxides (HPs) according to Heath & Tappel (1976).
Protein oxidation was assayed by the reaction of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine with protein carbonyls according to procedure of Schild et al. (1997) for mitochondria.
Ubiquinols (CoQH2) from 2 mg/ml mitochondrial suspensions were oxidized to ubiquinones (CoQs) with 0.5 ml of 2% FeCl3 and 2.0 ml of ethanol. The total content of CoQs (CoQH2+CoQ) was then determined as described by Lang et al. (1986). Vitamin E (Vit E) content was determined using the HPLC procedure of Lang et al. (1986). Reduced glutathione (GSH) concentration was measured as described by Griffith (1980).
The rate of mitochondrial H2O2 release was measured at 30 °C following the increase in fluorescence (excitation at 320 nm and emission at 400 nm) due to oxidation of p-hydroxyphenylacetate (PHPA) by H2O2 in the presence of HRP (Hyslop & Sklar 1984) in a computer-controlled Jasko fluorometer equipped with a thermostatically controlled cell holder. The reaction mixture consisted of 0.1 mg/ml mitochondrial proteins, 6 U/ml HRP, 200 μg/ml PHPA, and 10 mM succinate, plus 5 μM Rot, or 10 mM pyruvate/2.5 mM malate added at the end to start the reaction in a medium containing 145 mM KCl, 30 mM HEPES, 5 mM KH2PO4, 3 mM MgCl2 and 0.1 mM EGTA, pH 7.4. Measurements with the different substrates in the presence of 500 μM ADP were also performed. Furthermore, the effects of two respiratory inhibitors were investigated: Rot, which blocks the transfer of electrons from complex I to CoQ (Palmer et al. 1968), and antimycin A (AA), which interrupts electron transfer within the CoQ-cytochrome b site of complex III (Turrens et al. 1985). Inhibitor concentrations (5 μM Rot and 10 μM AA) which do not interfere with the detection PHPA–HRP system were used (Venditti et al. 2003).
Capacity to remove H2O2 was determined by comparing the ability of mitochondrial samples and desferrioxamine solutions to reduce the fluorescence increase linked to the PHPA oxidation, induced by the H2O2 produced in a system containing glucose and glucose oxidase (Venditti et al. 2001). Thus, the capacity of mitochondrial samples to remove H2O2 was expressed as equivalent desferrioxamine concentration.
Response to oxidative challenge was determined as described previously (Venditti et al. 1999a). Shortly, several dilutions of the mitochondrial suspensions in the range of protein concentrations from 20 to 0.005 mg/ml were prepared in 15 mM Tris (pH 8.5). The assays were performed in microtiter plates. Enhanced chemiluminescence reactions were initiated by addition of 250 μl of the reaction mixture to 25 μl of the samples. The reaction mixture was obtained by mixing solutions containing substrate in excess and signal-generating reagents respectively, in buffer at pH 8.6 (Vitros Signal Reagent). The plates were incubated at 37 °C for 30 s under continuous shaking and were then transferred to a luminescence analyzer (Amerlite Analyzer). The emission values were fitted to dose–response curves using the statistical facilities of the Fig. P graphic program (Biosoft, Cambridge, UK).
Mitochondrial swelling was spectrophotometrically measured by determining the apparent absorbance at 540 nm in a medium containing 125 mM sucrose, 65 mM KCl, 10 mM HEPES, pH 7.2, 2 mM succinate, 4 μM Rot, 0.3 mg mitochondrial protein/ml reaction mixture, 100 μM Ca2+, and 50 mM EGTA or 100 μM cyclosporin A (CSA) where indicated.
Mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ) was estimated through fluorescence changes of safranin (8 μM) recorded on the Jasko fluorometer (excitation wavelength 495 nm and emission wavelength 586 nm) in a medium containing 125 mM sucrose, 65 mM KCl, 10 mM HEPES, pH 7.2, 2 mM succinate, 6 μM Rot, 0.3 mg mitochondrial protein/ml reaction mixture, and 100 μM Ca2+. ΔΨ was calculated according to Åkerman & Wikström (1976), using a calibration curve obtained incubating mitochondria in a medium containing 200 mM sucrose, 10 mM HEPES, pH 7.2, 6 μM Rot, 0.38 EDTA, 8 μM safranin, 38.5 ng/ml valinomycin, and KCl at concentrations from 0 to 0.96 mM.
For determination of protein expression, liver fragments were gently homogenized (1:10, w/v) in 500 mM NaCl, 0.5% Nonidet P-40, 6 mM EDTA, 6 mM EGTA, 1 mM dithiothreitol, 40 mM Tris–HCl, pH 8.0, in the presence of antiprotease mixture including 40 μg/ml phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride, 5 μg/ml leupeptin, 5 g/ml aprotinin, 7 g/ml pepstatin. Homogenates were centrifuged at 1000 g for 10 min at 4 °C, and samples were prepared by diluting 10 μl of the resulting supernatants, containing 1.5 mg/ml protein, with 5 μl of 3% SDS, 30% glycerol, 15% β-mercaptoethanol, 0.1% bromophenol blue, 0.187 M Tris base, pH 6.8, and they were boiled for 5 min before loading on 6% stacking and 12% running SDS-PAGE gels. Gel was run in the mini protean equipment (Bio-Rad) for about 1 h at constant voltage (25 V). Separated hepatic proteins were transferred to nitrocellulose membranes by electroblotting. Membranes were incubated with a 1:1000 dilution of antibodies to PGC-1, NRF-1, and NRF-2 (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA, USA) in 154 mM NaCl, 10 mM Tris–HCl, pH 8.0, 2.5% nonfat dry milk, 10% Tween 20. Rabbit polyclonal antibodies raised against amino acids 1–300 mapping near the N-terminus of PGC-1, 204–503 mapping at the C-terminus of NRF-1, and 1–180 of NRF-2α were used. Antibody binding was detected by carrying out secondary antibody incubations using peroxidase-conjugated anti first IgG antibodies (Santa Cruz Biotechnology) diluted 1:4000. Secondary antibody was detected using the ECL system according to the manufacturer's recommendation (Santa Cruz Biotechnology). The blots were stripped by treating them for 10 min with 0.2 M NaOH followed by 5-min wash with H2O and two 5-min washes with 154 mM NaCl, 10 mM Tris–HCl, pH 8.0, 0.1% Tween 20. The blots were again blocked for 30 min with 154 mM NaCl, 10 mM Tris–HCl, pH 8.0, 2.5% nonfat dry milk, and 10% Tween 20; washed as described above; and incubated for 2 h with a 1:2000 dilution of anti-actin antibody (Santa Cruz Biotechnology) in blocking solution. Remaining procedures, as described for other antibodies, were followed. The actin was used for loading standardization. To compare protein expression levels among groups, a standard euthyroid sample was run on each gel, and all group values were then compared with the euthyroid sample that was assigned a value of 1.
Statistical analysis
The data, obtained in eight different experiments and expressed as means±s.e.m., were analyzed with a one-way ANOVA method. When a significant F ratio was found, the Student–Newman–Keuls multiple range test was used to determine the statistical significance between means. Probability values (P) <0.05 were considered significant. The results of the experiments are presented as sample curves.
Results
O2 consumption
The results dealing with effects of T3 and GC-1 treatments on rates of mitochondrial oxygen consumption are reported in Table 1. In the presence of succinate, such rates were lower in hypothyroid group than in euthyroid group during state 3, but not during state 4. Conversely, the rates were increased by T3 and GC-1 treatments during both respiration states, with the highest rates reached in H+T3 group. The values of respiratory control ratio (RCR) were not significantly modified by treatments. In the presence of pyruvate/malate, oxygen consumption rates, which were again lower in hypothyroid group than in euthyroid group during state 4, were increased by T3 treatment in both respiratory states resulting higher values than control values. Conversely, GC-1 treatment increased only pyruvate/malate-supported state 3 respiration. RCR values were not modified by treatments.
Effect of treatment with triiodothyronine (T3) or GC-1 of hypothyroid rats on oxygen consumption by rat liver mitochondria. Values are means±s.e.m. of eight experiments. One rat was used for each experiment. Oxygen consumption rates are expressed in nmol O/min per mg protein
Group | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
C | H | H+T3 | H+GC-1 | |
Substrate | ||||
Succinate | ||||
State 4 | 42.6±1.1 | 38.2±1.0 | 105.5±3.9a,b | 50.3±0.4a,b,c |
State 3 | 212.4±5.4 | 187.7±9.0a | 515.5±4.0a,b | 239.4±9.5a,b,c |
RCR | 4.7±0.5 | 4.3±0.2 | 4.8±0.4 | 4.6±0.2 |
Pyruvate/malate | ||||
State 4 | 15.5±1.0 | 13.1±0.4 | 29.9±1.0a,b | 15.2±0.2c |
State 3 | 35.4±0.9 | 27.5±0.6a | 60.8±0.7a,b | 40.7±0.9a,b,c |
RCR | 2.4±0.2 | 2.1±0.2 | 2.0±0.2 | 2.6±0.2 |
C, control euthyroid rats; H, hypothyroid rats; H+T3, hypothyroid T3-treated rats; H-GC-1, hypothyroid GC-1-treated rats. The level of significance was chosen as P<0.05.
Significant versus C rats.
Significant versus H rats.
Significant versus H+T3 rats.
Respiratory complex activities
As shown in Fig. 1, the activity of complex I was decreased by PTU+IOP and increased by T3, and to a lesser extent by GC-1 so that in H+GC-1 group, it was not significantly different from controls. Similar results were found for complex II. Conversely, the activity of complex III was similarly increased by agonists so that in both H+T3 and H+GC-1 groups, it was higher than in controls. This result was also found for the activity of complex IV even though it was increased to a lesser extent by GC-1 treatment.
Activities of mitochondrial respiratory complexes from euthyroid (C), hypothyroid (H), hypothyroid T3-treated (H+T3), and hypothyroid GC-1-treated (H+GC-1) rats. Values are means±s.e.m. of eight experiments. One rat was used for each experiment. aSignificant versus C rats; bsignificant versus H rats; csignificant versus H+T3 rats. The level of significance was chosen as P<0.05.
Citation: Journal of Endocrinology 205, 3; 10.1677/JOE-10-0036
Homogenate COX activity and mitochondrial protein content
COX activities were lower in hypothyroid homogenates than in euthyroid homogenates (65.6±1.3 and 73.7±0.7 respectively). Treatment with agonists of hypothyroid rats was associated with increases in COX activities, which were lower in GC-1-treated animals than in T3-treated animals (90.3±1.5 and 97.3±1.8 respectively).
The ratio between the cytochrome oxidase activities in homogenates and mitochondria supplied a rough estimate of hepatic contents of mitochondrial proteins. They were 71.5±4.9, 72.1±2.5, 69.5±2.0, and 74.6±2.4 for C, H, H+T3, and H+GC-1 groups respectively. No significant difference was found among such values.
Mitochondrial H2O2 release and capacity to remove H2O2
The results concerning the rates of H2O2 mitochondrial release are reported in Table 2. They show that, during both respiratory states and in the presence of both succinate and pyruvate/malate, such rates were decreased by PTU+IOP and increased by agonist treatment. The effect of GC-1 was lower so that rates of H2O2 release were not significantly different in C and H+GC-1 groups.
Effect of treatment with triiodothyronine (T3) or GC-1 of hypothyroid rats on H2O2 release by succinate and pyruvate/malate-supplemented mitochondria from rat liver. Values are means±s.e.m. of eight experiments. One rat was used for each experiment. H2O2 release rates are expressed in pmol/min per mg protein
Group | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
C | H | H+T3 | H+GC-1 | |
Substrate and additions | ||||
Succinate | 102.0±0.4 | 92.9±1.3a | 123.6±1.3a,b | 105.0±1.0b,c |
Succinate+ADP | 62.5±0.7 | 58.7±0.7a | 77.3±0.8a,b | 63.6±0.8b,c |
Pyruvate/malate | 238.7±0.9 | 183.9±2.4a | 260.1±1.5a,b | 242.9±0.5b,c |
Pyruvate/malate+ADP | 171.4±0.8 | 102.4±1.3a | 190.2±1.4a,b | 174.3±1.2b,c |
C, control euthyroid rats; H, hypothyroid rats; H+T3, hypothyroid T3-treated rats; H-GC-1, hypothyroid GC-1-treated rats. The level of significance was chosen as P<0.05.
Significant versus C rats.
Significant versus H rats.
Significant versus H+T3 rats.
It is known that H2O2 produced within mitochondria is partially removed by H2O2 metabolizing enzymes and hemoproteins (Venditti et al. 2001), so that the determination of the rates of H2O2 release does not allow us to deduce anything about the rate of its production. However, we measured the capacities of mitochondria to remove H2O2 they produce, and found that they were 3.27±0.06, 2.37±0.10, 4.27±0.12, and 3.48±0.10 for C, H, H+T3, and H+GC-1 groups respectively. Because, as the rates of H2O2 release, the capacities of H2O2 removal reached the highest and lowest values in T3-treated and hypothyroid rats respectively, whereas they were not significantly different in euthyroid and GC-1-treated rats, the differences among the groups in the H2O2 release rates reflected those in the peroxide generation.
Effects of inhibitors on H2O2 release
As shown in Table 3, in the absence of Rot, the rates of mitochondrial succinate-supported H2O2 release were decreased by PTU+IOP and increased by agonist treatment above the control value. The highest rate was reached following T3 treatment. Rot addition decreased the rates of H2O2 release in all groups, stopping what was occurring at complex I, due to the reverse electron flow from coenzyme Q (Ernster & Lee 1967). However, the lowest and highest rates were again found in H and H+T3 groups, whereas the rates in C and H+GC-1 groups were not significantly different. The further addition of antimycin increased H2O2 release rates in all groups and made the significance of the differences among groups similar to that found in the presence of the succinate alone. Addition of antimycin or Rot to pyruvate/malate-supported mitochondria increased H2O2 release rates in all groups. However, whereas the significance of differences between groups was not modified, in the presence of Rot, the rates of H2O2 release were higher in GC-1-treated rats than in control rats in the presence of antimycin.
Effect of inhibitors on H2O2 release by liver mitochondrial fractions from hypothyroid, hypothyroid triiodothyronine (T3)-treated, and hypothyroid GC-1-treated rats. Values are means±s.e.m. of eight experiments. One rat was used for each experiment. H2O2 release rates are expressed in pmol/min per mg protein
Group | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
C | H | H+T3 | H+GC-1 | |
Substrate and additions | ||||
Succinate (Succ) | 152.3±0.8 | 137.0±1.0a | 187.0±2.0a,b | 170.9±0.5a,b,c |
Succ+Rot | 102.6±1.0 | 92.7±1.4a,d | 123.2±1.4a,b,d | 104.5±1.5b,c |
Succ+Rot+AA | 832.9±7.2 | 771.6±30.3a,d | 964.7±19.6a,b,d | 907.6±2.9a,b,c,d |
Pyruvate/malate (Pyr/mal) | 238.9±0.8 | 184.2±1.7a | 260.6±1.9a,b | 242.0±1.5b,c |
Pyr/mal+AA | 939.0±6.7 | 920.2±6.4a,d | 1082.8±3.8a,b,d | 978.2±3.4a,b,c,d |
Pyruvate/malate | 238.9±1.0 | 183.8±1.0a | 259.6±1.7a,b | 242.1±0.9b,c |
Pyr/mal+Rot | 249.5±6.0 | 198.0±5.4a,d | 274.3±1.5a,b,d | 242.9±1.4b,c |
C, control euthyroid rats; H, hypothyroid rats; H+T3, hypothyroid T3-treated rats; H-GC-1, hypothyroid GC-1-treated rats. The level of significance was chosen as P<0.05.
Significant versus C rats.
Significant versus H rats.
Significant versus H+T3 rats.
Significant effect of the last inhibitor added versus mitochondria under same conditions without that inhibitor.
Oxidative damage
HP and protein-bound carbonyls levels were used as indices of oxidative damage to lipids and proteins respectively, in rat liver mitochondria. As shown in Fig. 2, lipid and protein damage was decreased by PTU+IOP and increased by agonist treatment. The GC-1-elicited increase was lower so that the oxidative damage was not significantly different in control and H+GC-1 groups.
Oxidative damage of rat liver mitochondria from euthyroid (C), hypothyroid (H), hypothyroid T3-treated (H+T3), and hypothyroid GC-1-treated (H+GC-1) rats. Hydroperoxides (HPs) (above) are expressed in pmol NADPH/min per mg protein. Protein-bound carbonyls (CO) (below) are expressed in nmol/mg protein. Values are means±s.e.m. of eight experiments. One rat was used for each experiment. aSignificant versus C rats; bsignificant versus H rats; csignificant versus H+T3 rats. The level of significance was chosen as P<0.05.
Citation: Journal of Endocrinology 205, 3; 10.1677/JOE-10-0036
Antioxidants
The results dealing with effects of T3 or GC-1 administration to hypothyroid rats on mitochondrial antioxidants are reported in Table 4. They show that Vit E content was increased by T3 treatment and to a lesser extent by GC-1 treatment. Similar changes of CoQ9 and CoQ10 content were induced by treatments, which did not modify mitochondrial GSH content.
Effect of triiodothyronine (T3) or GC-1 treatment of hypothyroid rats on mitochondrial antioxidants. Values are means±s.e.m. of eight experiments. One rat was used for each experiment
Group | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
C | H | H+T3 | H+GC-1 | |
Parameter | ||||
Vit E | 0.34±0.01 | 0.26±0.01a | 0.46±0.01a,b | 0.39±0.01a,b,c |
CoQ9 | 1.57±0.04 | 1.35±0.06a | 2.04±0.08a,b | 1.89±0.05a,b,c |
CoQ10 | 0.21±0.01 | 0.14±0.01a | 0.24±0.01b | 0.20±0.02b |
GSH | 21.5±1.5 | 26.2±0.6 | 22.1±2.3 | 21.2±0.5 |
Vitamin E (Vit E), coenzyme Q9 (CoQ9), coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels are expressed in nmol/mg protein. C, control euthyroid rats; H, hypothyroid rats; H+T3, hypothyroid T3-treated rats; H-GC-1, hypothyroid GC-1-treated rats. The level of significance was chosen as P<0.05.
Significant versus C rats.
Significant versus H rats.
Significant versus H+T3 rats.
Response to oxidative challenge
The luminescence response to changes of concentration of the homogenates (Fig. 3) was described by the equation (E=a×C/exp(b×C)). The parameters a and b, which determine the light emission maximum (Emax=a/e×b), are dependent on the concentration of substances that are able to induce (iron or cuprum ligands) and inhibit (antioxidants) respectively the H2O2-induced luminescent reaction. Examination of the curves in Fig. 3 and data reported in Table 5 show that the emission maximum was not significantly different in hypothyroid and euthyroid rats and was increased by T3 and to a lesser extent by GC-1 treatment. The values of the parameters a and b indicate that the increase induced by T3 treatment in emission peak is due to lower b values and higher a values, while the increase induced by GC-1 was only to impute to higher a value.
Response to oxidative challenge in vitro of mitochondrial preparations from rat liver. The susceptibility to stress was evaluated by determining the variations with concentrations of light emission from a luminescent reaction. Emission values are given as percentage of an arbitrary standard (44 ng/ml peroxidase). The curves are computed from experimental data using the equation: E=a×C/exp(b×C). Preparations from euthyroid (C), hypothyroid (H), hypothyroid T3-treated (H+T3), and hypothyroid GC-1-treated (H+GC-1) rats. One representative experiment of eight similar experiments is shown.
Citation: Journal of Endocrinology 205, 3; 10.1677/JOE-10-0036
Effect of treatment with triiodothyronine (T3) or GC-1 of hypothyroid rats on parameters characterizing the response to oxidative stress of rat liver mitochondria. Values are means±s.e.m. of eight experiments. One rat was used for each experiment. For explanation of symbols see text
Group | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
C | H | H+T3 | H+GC-1 | |
Parameters | ||||
a | 8.7±0.21 | 7.6±0.2 | 19.9±1.1a,b | 12.3±1.0a,b,c |
b | 0.82±0.04 | 0.87±0.04 | 0.70±0.03b | 0.80±0.05 |
Emax | 4.1±0.2 | 3.2±0.2 | 10.4±0.8a,b | 5.6±0.4a,b,c |
C, control euthyroid rats; H, hypothyroid rats; H+T3, hypothyroid T3-treated rats; H-GC-1, hypothyroid GC-1-treated rats. The level of significance was chosen as P<0.05.
Significant versus C rats.
Significant versus H rats.
Significant versus H+T3 rats.
Mitochondrial swelling
As shown by the absorbance changes in Fig. 4, the extent of the swelling was higher in Ca2+-loaded mitochondria by T3-treated rats. Mitochondrial swelling was drastically reduced by CSA or EGTA (unreported results), pointing to the role played by permeability transition pore (PTP). Ca2+-induced swelling was preceded by a rapid decrease in membrane potential (ΔΨ), which was higher in preparations from T3-treated rats. No difference in Ca2+-induced swelling and fall in membrane potential of mitochondrial preparations among the other groups.
Ca2+-induced swelling (above) and membrane potential dissipation (below) of mitochondrial preparations from euthyroid (C), hypothyroid (H), hypothyroid T3-treated (H+T3), and hypothyroid GC-1-treated (H+GC-1) rats. Swelling of mitochondrial preparations (0.3 mg/ml) was monitored as decrease of the absorbance at 540 nm in a standard medium containing 100 μM Ca2+ and was expressed as percent of the initial value before Ca2+ addition. Membrane potential (ΔΨ) of mitochondrial preparations (0.3 mg/ml) was estimated through fluorescence changes of safranin (8 μM) (excitation wavelength 495 nm and emission wavelength 586 nm) in a standard medium containing 100 μM Ca2+. ΔΨ was calculated using a suitable calibration curve. The decrease of ΔΨ for each preparation was expressed as percent of the initial value before Ca2+ addition. The initial values of absorbance of mitochondrial preparations were 1.00±0.07, 0.96±0.06, and 0.98±0.05 for H, H+T3, and H+GC-1 rats respectively. Initial values of ΔΨ were 191.2±18.9 mV, 182.9±12.7 mV, 185.6±12.3 mV, for H, H+T3, and H+GC-1 rats respectively. Values are means±s.e.m. of eight experiments. One rat was used for each experiment. aSignificant versus C preparations; bsignificant versus H preparations; csignificant versus H+T3 preparations. The level of significance was chosen as P<0.05.
Citation: Journal of Endocrinology 205, 3; 10.1677/JOE-10-0036
Protein expression
Western blot experiments were conducted using identical amounts of total protein extract from livers of hypothyroid and treated rats that were loaded onto an SDS-PAGE, and were blotted according to standard protocols. The high specificity of the antibodies and molecular weight markers allowed us to easily identify the PGC-1, NRF-1, and NRF-2 proteins.
The results reported in Fig. 5 show that PGC-1, NRF-1, and NRF-2 levels were decreased, increased, and unmodified respectively, following PTU+IOP treatment. Furthermore, all levels were increased by agonist treatment. However, PGC-1 level was increased by T3 and in greater measure by GC-1 treatment without reaching the value of euthyroid controls, whereas NRF-1 and -2 levels were increased by GC-1 and in greater measure by T3 treatment exceeding the euthyroid value with both agonists.
Liver PGC-1, NRF-1, and NRF-2 protein expressions evaluated via western blotting. Liver total proteins from euthyroid (C), hypothyroid (H), hypothyroid and T3-treated (H+HT3), and hypothyroid and GC-1-treated (H+GC-1) rats were isolated and analyzed. Representative blots of PGC-1, NRF-1, NRF-2 and actin protein expressions are shown (above). Analysis was performed as described in Materials and Methods. Bar graphs (below) correspond to the respective densitometric quantification. Actin was used for loading standardization. Ratios of band intensities to the β-actin band intensities were compared with a standard euthyroid sample that was assigned a value of 1. Values are means±s.e.m. of three independent experiments. One rat was used for each experiment. aSignificant versus C preparations; bsignificant versus H preparations; csignificant versus H+T3 preparations. The level of significance was chosen as P<0.05.
Citation: Journal of Endocrinology 205, 3; 10.1677/JOE-10-0036
Discussion
It is well known that the electron transfer through the respiratory chain can produce either energy necessary for cell viability, by tetravalent reduction of O2 to H2O, or oxidative damage and sometime cell death, by univalent reduction of O2 to superoxide radical.
Changes in tissue O2 consumption and ROS production involve changes in tissue content of mitochondrial proteins and/or in rate of electron flow through inner membrane of each mitochondrion due to modified amount of respiratory chain proteins.
Previously, we reported that treatment of hypothyroid rats with GC-1 produces increases in liver respiration smaller than treatment with equimolar doses of T3 (Venditti et al. 2009a). The present results, concerning the liver content of mitochondrial proteins, show that the increases in tissue respiration, induced by both treatments, were not due to mitochondrial proliferation, thus suggesting differential agonist effects on mitochondrial population characteristics. In fact, mitochondrial O2 consumption and activities of the multi-subunit complexes, composing mitochondrial electron transport system, demonstrate that the differential T3 and GC-1 modulation of liver respiration is due to different agonist effects on rates of electron flow through the mitochondrial inner membrane. The T3 effect is in agreement with the early observations that hyperthyroidism increases respiratory chain protein amount and inner surface area (Jacovcic et al. 1978) of mitochondria without changing their number (Goglia et al. 1989) and total protein mass (Venditti et al. 2006). It is conceivable that the lower effect of GC-1 on O2 consumption is due to smaller increase in mitochondrial content of respiratory chain components. This idea is supported by our observation that the changes in state 3 O2 consumption, induced by T3 and GC-1, are in agreement with the respective increases in the activities of complexes I, II, and IV. On the other hand, the complex III activity was similarly increased by T3 and GC-1 showing that the components of the mitochondrial respiratory chain do not respond as a unit to GC-1 stimulation.
It is not clear what are the factors responsible for different increases in liver content of respiratory chain components elicited by T3 and GC-1. Owing to the similar ratio between liver and plasma concentrations that GC-1 and T3 exhibit (Chiellini et al. 1998), differences in tissue uptake of the agonists should seem unlikely. However, other effects including different half life, altered nuclear import, impaired inactivation by deiodinases could contribute to liver agonist concentrations. Differences in TRβ receptors affinity do not seem to be involved because agonists also exhibit similar binding affinity for TRβ receptors (Chiellini et al. 1998). Conversely, the observation that most of the thyroid hormone actions are mediated by both receptor isoforms (Brent 2000) suggests that the expression of some components of respiratory chain is also regulated through the agonist binding to TRα receptors, even though TRα is the minority isoform (20%) in the liver (Schwartz et al. 1992). This is an intriguing hypothesis, but it has to be supported by additional experiments demonstrating an effect of selective TRα agonist on respiratory chain components.
Further information on the effects of the agonists on respiratory chain component concentration was obtained by the combined measurements of mitochondrial H2O2 release and removal. Indeed, the finding that the increases in ROS production were smaller in H+GC-1 than in H+T3 preparations suggests that T3 and GC-1 treatments of hypothyroid rats induce differential increases in mitochondrial concentration of autoxidizable electron carriers. Such an idea was confirmed by the changes in H2O2 release rates induced by inhibitors of the respiratory chain, which render the concentration of the autoxidizable carriers the only factor affecting ROS production rate.
Mitochondria are at the same time the main source and main target of ROS, which lead to oxidative damage of their components. Such a damage has to increase in conditions in which ROS production increases. Thus, our results show an enhancement in the oxidatively damaged mitochondrial lipids and proteins after T3 and GC-1 treatments of hypothyroid rats. Furthermore, oxidative damage of H+GC-1 mitochondria did not exceed that of euthyroid mitochondria consistently with their similar H2O2 production.
Determination of the content of some free radical scavengers was not able to show a possible relationship between mitochondrial antioxidant protection and oxidative damage in the agonist-treated rats. In fact, we found that both treatments differently modified liposoluble and hydrosoluble antioxidant concentration. Mitochondrial Vit E and coenzyme Q levels increased in T3-and GC-1-treated rats according to what previously found in hepatic tissue (Venditti et al. 2009a), whereas GSH levels were not modified by treatments although the cytosolic levels decreased (Venditti et al. 2009a). This result is consistent with the observation that, during oxidative stress-induced tissue GSH depletion, liver mitochondria conserve GSH level (Venditti et al. 1999b) by transport systems located on the inner membrane (Zhong et al. 2008).
Besides antioxidant content, other factors, such as the levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids and cytochromes in membrane could affect mitochondrial response to oxidants. Therefore, we tested susceptibility to oxidative stress of mitochondrial preparations challenging them with hydrogen peroxide or Ca2+ load in vitro.
In the former case, we found that the mitochondrial susceptibility to oxidants was increased by both agonist treatments. The analysis of the curves of light emission showed that the lower susceptibility exhibited by H+GC-1 preparations was attributable to lower content of iron ligands, able to interact with H2O2 and produce •OH radicals, and higher content of substances, able to scavenge such ROS.
In the latter case, we found that only Ca2+-loaded mitochondria from T3-treated rats underwent enhanced swelling, which was prevented by EGTA or cyclosporine A, and therefore, could be attributed to Ca2+-dependent modulation of the gated PTP. The lack of changes in GC-1 preparations can be due to lower production of gating inducers, such as ROS (Crompton et al. 1987), which seem to be involved in the oxidation of membrane protein thiols unmasked by matrix Ca2+ (Castilho et al. 1998). If so, the small increase in peroxide-induced light emission and lack of increase in Ca2+-dependent swelling, shown in mitochondria from GC-1-treated rats, should be a consequence of scant GC-1-induced enhancement in susceptibility of such mitochondria to oxidative challenge.
Taken together, our results seem to indicate that the increases in O2 consumption, ROS production and susceptibility to oxidants shown in liver mitochondria from H+T3 and H+GC-1 rats are largely dependent on treatment-linked changes in the mitochondrial content of respiratory chain components.
The expression of respiratory apparatus is controlled by nuclear regulatory proteins including NRF-1, NRF-2, and PGC-1. NRF-1 and NRF-2 are transcriptional factors which should play a role in the transcriptional control of many genes involved in mitochondrial function and biogenesis, whereas PGC-1 is a transcriptional coactivator which should act as a coactivator of NRF-1- and NRF-2-dependent transcription. (Scarpulla 2002).
It has been shown that T3 triggers processes, such as mitochondrial biogenesis, adaptive thermogenesis, and hepatic gluconeogenesis (Yen 2001), which resemble those regulated by PGC-1, which, in turn, interacts with several nuclear hormone receptors including TRβ (Puigserver et al. 1998). It has been reported that short- (Weitzel et al. 2003) and long-term (Irrcher et al. 2003, Venditti et al. 2009b) T3 treatments increase PGC-1 protein levels in rat liver. Scarce information is available on T3 effect on NRF-1 and -2 expressions. However, recent report has shown that the liver levels of both activators are increased by T3 treatment of hypothyroid rats (Venditti et al. 2009b).
Therefore, we measured PGC-1, NRF-1, and NRF-2 protein expression levels, and we found that PTU+IOP treatment decreased PGC-1 levels and increased those of NRF-1 and -2. Conversely, agonist treatment led to increased levels of all proteins, even though PGC-1 levels remained lower than the euthyroid ones. The higher increases induced by T3 in NRF-1 and -2 levels were consistent with the observation that liver COX activities were higher in T3-treated rats than in GC-1-treated rats. Because thyroid hormone increases expression of mitochondrial and nuclear encoded subunits of COX in rat liver (Sheehan et al. 2004), it is conceivable that NRF-1 and -2 protein expressions is linked to COX protein concentration. On the other hand, our finding that T3 treatment was not able to restore PGC-1 levels to control value and increased such levels less than GC-1 was not expected on the basis of previous observation that 5 days of T3 treatment induced increases in PGC-1 protein expression in rat skeletal muscle and liver (Irrcher et al. 2003). At the present time, we are not able to suggest a straightforward explanation for these discrepant results. One possibility is that they are due to different protocols used to induce hyperthyroid state in the rats since Irrcher et al. (2003) administered daily doses of 40 μg of T3 per 100 g BW to euthyroid rats. Both the higher dose of T3 and its administration to euthyroid animals might alter the response to the hormone. It is conceivable that in euthyroid rats, factors, including T4 and T3 derivatives, are present at concentrations which can modify the response to T3. This idea is supported by our previous work (Venditti et al. 2009b), dealing with hypothyroid rats subjected to different treatments (T3 or T4 administration and cold exposure), in which a strong correlation was found between COX activity and level of PGC-1 protein expression. Apart from these considerations, previous results (Irrcher et al. 2003), suggesting that PGC-1 activation via posttranslational modifications is more important than protein amount in determining COX content in rat liver, make conceivable that relatively low PGC-1 levels can coexist with the high COX activities found in T3-treated rats.
In conclusion, our data supply indicates that NRFs are responsible for the different increases, induced by T3 and GC-1 in respiratory chain components, thus determining not only the respiratory capacities, but also the mitochondrial ROS production and oxidative damage in hepatic tissue.
Declaration of interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research reported.
Funding
This work was supported by Grant MIUR-COFIN 2008 Prot. 2008ERLWAB_004.
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