RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Glutathione Peroxidase-1 Overexpression Prevents Ceramide Production and Partially Inhibits Apoptosis in Doxorubicin-Treated Human Breast Carcinoma Cells JF Molecular Pharmacology JO Mol Pharmacol FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics SP 488 OP 496 VO 60 IS 3 A1 Valérie Gouazé A1 Marc-Edouard Mirault A1 Stéphane Carpentier A1 Robert Salvayre A1 Thierry Levade A1 Nathalie Andrieu-Abadie YR 2001 UL http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/60/3/488.abstract AB Reduced glutathione and N-acetylcysteine can inhibit both apoptosis and necrosis of several cell types, suggesting a critical role for reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cell death. However, how the cellular defense against oxidative stress is connected with other cell death mediators remains unclear. We selectively investigated the interaction of seleno-glutathione peroxidase-1 (GPx-1), the major enzyme responsible for peroxide detoxification in mammalian cells, with the cytotoxic response of T47D human breast cancer cells to doxorubicin, an anticancer drug known to promote production of ROS and apoptotic mediator ceramide. The sensitivity to doxorubicin-mediated cell death was compared in T47D/H3 containing low levels of endogenous GPx and T47D/GPx2 transfectant cells, which overexpress GPx-1. We show that T47D/GPx2 cells were significantly more resistant than T47D/H3 cells to doxorubicin (1 μM). The glutathione precursor,N-acetylcysteine also partially protected T47D/H3 cells from the lethal effect of doxorubicin, whereasl-buthionine-(S,R)-sulfoximine, an inhibitor of glutathione biosynthesis, sensitized both GPx-1–deficient and -proficient cells. Interestingly, in addition to a decrease in ROS production, the activation of neutral sphingomyelinase, sphingomyelin hydrolysis, and ceramide generation in response to doxorubicin was impaired in T47D/GPx2 cells compared with control cells. In contrast, GPx overexpression did not protect breast cancer cells from cell death induced by exogenous cell-permeant ceramide. Moreover, the basal activity of neutral sphingomyelinase was considerably lower in T47D/GPx2. Taken together, these results indicate that GPx-1 can regulate doxorubicin-induced cell death signaling at least in part by interfering with the activation of the sphingomyelin-ceramide pathway. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics