Curcumin Derivative Epigenetically Reactivates Nrf2 Antioxidative

Dec 11, 2017 - The carcinogenesis of prostate cancer (PCa) in TRAMP model is highly correlated with hypermethylation in the promoter region of Nrf2 an...
3 downloads 15 Views 2MB Size
Subscriber access provided by RMIT University Library

Article

Curcumin Derivative Epigenetically Reactivates Nrf2 Antioxidative Stress Signaling in Mouse Prostate Cancer TRAMP C1 Cells Wenji Li, Zheng-Yuan Su, Yue Guo, Chengyue Zhang, RenYi Wu, Linbo Gao, Xi Zheng, Zhi-Yun Du, Kun Zhang, and Ah-Ng Kong Chem. Res. Toxicol., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.7b00248 • Publication Date (Web): 11 Dec 2017 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on December 13, 2017

Just Accepted “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication. They are posted online prior to technical editing, formatting for publication and author proofing. The American Chemical Society provides “Just Accepted” as a free service to the research community to expedite the dissemination of scientific material as soon as possible after acceptance. “Just Accepted” manuscripts appear in full in PDF format accompanied by an HTML abstract. “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been fully peer reviewed, but should not be considered the official version of record. They are accessible to all readers and citable by the Digital Object Identifier (DOI®). “Just Accepted” is an optional service offered to authors. Therefore, the “Just Accepted” Web site may not include all articles that will be published in the journal. After a manuscript is technically edited and formatted, it will be removed from the “Just Accepted” Web site and published as an ASAP article. Note that technical editing may introduce minor changes to the manuscript text and/or graphics which could affect content, and all legal disclaimers and ethical guidelines that apply to the journal pertain. ACS cannot be held responsible for errors or consequences arising from the use of information contained in these “Just Accepted” manuscripts.

Chemical Research in Toxicology is published by the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036 Published by American Chemical Society. Copyright © American Chemical Society. However, no copyright claim is made to original U.S. Government works, or works produced by employees of any Commonwealth realm Crown government in the course of their duties.

Page 1 of 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Chemical Research in Toxicology

Curcumin Derivative Epigenetically Reactivates Nrf2 Antioxidative Stress Signaling in Mouse Prostate Cancer TRAMP C1 Cells

Wenji Li §,¶, Zheng-Yuan Su§,¤, Yue Guo §,¶,œ, Chengyue Zhang ZhengƐ, Zhi-Yun Duƾ, Kun Zhangƺ, and Ah-Ng Kong §,¶,*

§,¶,œ

, Renyi Wu §,¶ , Linbo Gao §,¶, Xi

§

Center for Phytochemical Epigenome Study, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA, ¶ Department of Pharmaceutics, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA, ¤ Department of Bioscience Technology, Chung Yuan Christian University, 200 Chung Pei Road, Chung Li District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan 32023 R.O.C. œ Graduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA. Ɛ Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Chemical Biology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey,164 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA ƾ Allan H. Conney Laboratory for Anticancer Research, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, P.R. China ƺ Laboratory of Natural Medicinal Chemistry & Green Chemistry, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, P.R. China *Corresponding Author: Ah-Ng Tony Kong, Department of Pharmaceutics, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 160 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, Phone: 732-455-3831; Fax:732-455-3134; E-mail: [email protected]

Key Words Nrf2, Prostate cancer, curcumin, H3k27me3, DNA methylation, TRAMP

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Chemical Research in Toxicology 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 2 of 28

Table of Contents Graphic

2 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 3 of 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Chemical Research in Toxicology

Abstract The carcinogenesis of prostate cancer (PCa) in TRAMP model is highly correlated with hypermethylation in the promoter region of Nrf2 and the accompanying reduced transcription of Nrf2 and its regulated detoxifying genes. We aimed to investigate the effects of (3E,5E)-3,5-Bis(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzylidene) tetrahydrothiopyran-4-one (F10) and (3E,5E)-3,5-Bis(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzylidene) -tetrahydropyran-4one (E10), two synthetic curcumin derivatives, on restoring Nrf2 activity in TRAMP C1 cells. HepG2-C8 cells transfected with an antioxidant-response element (ARE)-luciferase vector were treated with F10, E10, curcumin and sulforaphane (SFN) to compare their effects on Nrf2-ARE pathways. We performed Real-time quantitative PCR and western blotting to investigate the effects of F10 and E10 on Nrf2, correlated phase II detoxification genes. We also measured expression and activity of DNMTand HDAC enzymes. Enrichment of H3K27me3 on the promoter region of Nrf2 was explored with a chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay. Methylation of the CpG region in Nrf2 promoter were doubly examined by bisulfite genomic sequencing (BGS) and methylation DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP). Compared with curcumin and SFN, F10 are more potent in activating Nrf2-ARE pathways. Both F10 and E10 enhanced level of Nrf2 and the correlated phase II detoxifying genes. BGS and MeDIP assays indicated that F10 but not E10 hypomethylated the Nrf2 promoter. F10 also downregulated the protein level of DNMT1, DNMT3a, DNMT3b, HDAC1, HDAC4, and HDAC7 and the activity of DNMTs and HDACs. F10 but not E10 effectively reduced the accumulation of H3k27me3 on the promoter of Nrf2. F10 and E10 can activate the Nrf2-ARE pathway and increase the level of Nrf2 and correlated phase II detoxification genes. The reactivation effect on Nrf2 by F10 in TRAMP C1 may come from demethylation, decrease of HDACs and inhibition of H3k27me3 accumulation.

3 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Chemical Research in Toxicology 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

1

Page 4 of 28

Introduction

2

According to epidemiology studies, the frequency of diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) ranks

3

second among all cancers in the USA.1 Like many other cancer types, it progresses from the benign to

4

malignant stage due to genetic and epigenetic alterations.2 Compared to genetic factors, epigenetic

5

changes are relatively reversible. In addition, epigenetic alterations are accepted as a major predictor

6

of PCa significance by an increasing number of scientists.3 Aberrant methylation of many genes, such

7

as GSTP1, RASSF1A, RARβ2 and galectin-3, is highly involved in PCa progression and can be

8

found by early detection in tissue biopsies, serum and urine, and thus can be promising markers for

9

PCa diagnosis and targeted therapies.4, 5

10

The antioxidant defense system normally exerts a positive cancer prevention effect; however,

11

when this system is deregulated, it is one of the major promoting factors for toxicity and neoplastic

12

progression of PCa.6, 7 Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) is a basic-region leucine

13

zipper (bZIP) transcription factor, which has been found to be a vital mediator in upregulating

14

antioxidant-response element (ARE)-related phase II detoxifying and antioxidation gene

15

transcription.8 These genes are closely regulated by Nrf2 and contribute to preservation from cellular

16

invasion of ROS/RNS and active metabolites of carcinogens.

17

In a TRAMP model, we found that PCa carcinogenesis is highly associated with

18

hypermethylation of the promoter region of Nrf2 and the consequent silencing of Nrf2 and the

19

correlated phase II detoxification genes, comprising of NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1)

20

and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) .9, 10 Many phytochemicals, including 3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM) ,11

21

sulforaphane (SFN)12, and tocopherols 13 have been demonstrated to restore Nrf2 expression by

22

demethylating the CpG regions on the Nrf2 promoter and thus increasing its downstream phase II

23

detoxifying and antioxidation genes and preventing PCa in the TRAMP model.

24 25

F10 ((3E,5E)-3,5-bis(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzylidene)-tetrahydrothiopyran-4-one) and E10 ((3E,5E)-3,5-bis(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzylidene) tetrahydropyran-4-one) are synthetic curcumin

4 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 5 of 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Chemical Research in Toxicology

26

derivatives (Figure 1). They exhibited higher growth inhibiting efficacy against human prostate

27

cancer cells than curcumin through inhibition of androgen receptor activity.14 Structure activity

28

relationship (SAR) analysis indicated the more potent anti-PCa cell effects of E10 and F10 may be

29

related to the heteroatom structure.14 In addition, some additional groups on the aromatic rings such

30

as a sulfur or oxygen heterocyclic ketone group, distal benzene rings and methoxy groups could

31

enhance the effects further.15 However, the mechanism of E10 and F10 in inhibition of PCa

32

progression is not clear. In our previous study, curcumin exerted its PCa preventive effect by

33

epigenetically reactivating Nrf2 transcription and activating its downstream antioxidative pathway.9

34

In this project, we aimed to explore the potential mechanism of F10 and E10 in restoring Nrf2

35

expression via epigenetic regulation in TRAMP C1.

36 37

Material & Methodology

38

Material

39

Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM), fetal bovine serum (FBS), penicillin-

40

streptomycin (10,000 U/ml), versene and trypsin-EDTA were purchased from Gibco (Grand Island, NY,

41

USA). Antibodies against Nrf2, HO-1, UGT1A1, and beta-actin (I-19) were obtained from Santa Cruz

42

Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA, USA). Anti-HDAC1 and anti-HDAC4 antibody were supplied by Cell

43

Signaling Technology (Beverly, MA). The anti-NQO1, anti-HDAC7, anti-H3, anti-DNMT3a and anti-

44

DNMT3b antibodies were from Abcam (Cambridge, MA,USA). Anti-DNMT1 was supplied by Novus

45

Biologicals (Littleton, CO, USA). E10 and F10 (purity >95%) were obtained from Dr. Kun Zhang’s

46

laboratory, which was synthesized by aldehyde and ketone in glacial acetic acid following published

47

method.15 Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), 5-aza deoxycytidine (5-aza), and trichostatin A (TSA) and all

48

others were ordered from Sigma (St. Louis, MO, USA).

49 50

Cell Culture 5 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Chemical Research in Toxicology 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 6 of 28

51

Mouse prostate cancer TRAMP-C1 cells (ATCC- CRL-2730) were purchased from ATCC

52

(Rockville, Maryland, USA) with certificate of analysis. The cells were grown in DMEM medium

53

containing 10% FBS. HepG2-C8 cells stably transfected with an ARE-luciferase construct16 were cultured

54

in DMEM medium containing 10% FBS and 1% penicillin-streptomycin. For all the cell experiments, the

55

treatment medium including 0.1% DMSO and drugs were changed every 2 days.

56 57

MTS Assay

58

One thousand TRAMP-C1 cells were plated in each well of ninety-six-well plates overnight. The

59

culture medium was changed to E10 and F10 at different concentrations (from 0 to 800nM) and the cells

60

were incubated for 1, 3, or 5 days. The treatment medium was changed every other day. MTS assay was

61

done to compare the cell viability according to the kit’s protocol (Promega, Madison, WI, USA).

62

ARE-Luciferase Assay

63

ARE-Luciferase activity assay in evaluating the potency of E10, F10, curcumin, and SFN in

64

activating Nrf2 were evaluated in HepG2-C8 cells which stably expressed ARE-luciferase. One million

65

HepG2-ARE-C8 cells were grown in each well in 12-well plates overnight, and then incubated with E10,

66

F10, curcumin, and SFN for 1 day. Ten microliter cell lysate supernatant was used for ARE-Luciferase

67

Assay following the kit’s protocol (Promega, Madison, WI, USA) by using a Sirius luminometer

68

(Berthold Detection System GmbH, Pforzheim, Germany). The luciferase activity was normalized by cell

69

lysate protein concentration calculated by using a BCA kit (Pierce Biotech, Rockford, IL, USA).

70 71

RNA extraction and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR)

72

TRAMP-C1 cells at density of one million / culture plate (10-cm diameter) were treated with E10

73

(50 nM and 100 nM), F10 (50 nM and 100 nM) and 0.1% DMSO (control) for 3 days. Total RNA was

74

extracted from the cells using an RNeasy Mini Kit (QIAGEN, Valencia, CA). cDNA was synthesized by

75

a SuperScript III First-Strand Synthesis System (Invitrogen, Grand Island, NY, USA) according to the

6 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 7 of 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Chemical Research in Toxicology

76

manufacturer’s protocol. mRNA expression levels were determined with qPCR using Power SYBR Green

77

PCR Master Mix (Applied Biosystems, Carlsbad, CA, USA). The primer sequences for Nrf2, HO-1,

78

NQO1, and UGT1A1 were same with our previous reports. 17

79 80

Western Blotting

81

After three days treatment of E10 or F10 at the same concentration, TRAMP-C1 cells were

82

washed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and collected in radioimmunoprecipitation assay (RIPA)

83

buffer (Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA, USA) containing a protease inhibitor cocktail (Sigma).

84

Protein concentrations were measured using the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) method (Pierce, Rockford, IL,

85

USA). Twenty microgram protein was loaded and separated by a 4 to 15% SDS–polyacrylamide gel (Bio-

86

Rad, Hercules, CA, USA) electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE) and then transferred to PVDF membranes

87

(Millipore, Billerica, MA, USA). The membranes were blocked with 5% BSA and incubated with

88

corresponding primary antibodies and HRP-conjugated secondary antibodies in sequence. The bands were

89

visualized using the SuperSignal West Femto Chemiluminescent Substrate (Thermo Scientific, Rockford,

90

IL, USA) and analyzed with a Gel Documentation 2000 system (Bio-Rad).

91 92

Bisulfite Genomic Sequencing (BGS)

93

BGS method is elaborated in detail in our previous report. 17 Briefly, after three days treatment of

94

E10 or F10 at the same concentration and combination of 5-aza (500 nM) and TSA (100 nM) for 3 days,

95

genomic DNA was extracted from TRAMP-C1 cells with a QIAamp DNA Mini kit (Qiagen, Valencia,

96

CA, USA), subjected to bisulfite conversion with an EZ DNA Methylation-Gold Kit (Zymo Research

97

Corp., Orange, CA, USA) and amplified with Platinum Taq DNA polymerase (Invitrogen, Grand Island,

98

NY, USA) using the same primers targeted the mouse Nrf2 promoter. 17 The PCR products were purified

99

and cloned into a pCR4 TOPO vector using the TOPO TA Cloning Kit (Thermo Fisher

100

Scientific,Rockford, IL, USA). Plasmid DNA from randomly selected clones was isolated and sequenced

101

(Genewiz, Piscataway, NJ, USA). 7 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Chemical Research in Toxicology 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 8 of 28

102 103 104

Nuclear Extraction, DNMTs and HDACs activity Assay

105

After three days treatment of E10 or F10 at the same concentration, nuclear extracts were

106

isolated from control and treated cells by the EpiQuik Nuclear Extraction Kit (Epigentek, Brooklyn, NY)

107

in line with the manufacturer's protocol. The protein concentration of nuclear extracts was measured by

108

BCA Protein Assay Reagent (Pierce, Rockford, IL).

109

Total DNMTs activities of isolated nuclear proteins were quantified using a fluorimetric

110

EpiQuickTM DNMT Activity/Inhibition Assay Ultra kit (Epigentek, Brooklyn, NY) . One microliter (5–10

111

µg) of nuclear extracts and 49 microliter assay reagent were applied to each well to test the activity of

112

HDACs according to manufacturer instructions using a Tecan microplate reader plate reader (Infinite

113

m200 pro; Männedorf Switzerland) with an excitation wavelength of 530 nm and an emission wavelength

114

of 590 nm. DNMTs activities were normalized by protein amount of each sample.

115

Total HDACs activities of isolated nuclear proteins were measured using a fluorometric

116

EpigenaseTM HDAC Activity/Inhibition Direct Assay Kit (Epigentek, Brooklyn, NY) . One microliter (5–

117

10 µg) of nuclear extracts and 49 microliter assay reagent were applied to each well to test the activity of

118

HDACs according to manufacturer instructions using a Tecan microplate reader plate reader (Infinite

119

m200 pro; Männedorf Switzerland) with an excitation wavelength of 530 nm and an emission wavelength

120

of 590 nm. HDAC activities were normalized by protein amount of each sample.

121 122

Methylation DNA Immunoprecipitation (MeDIP)

123

To confirm the BGS results, MeDIP assay was implemented by a Methylamp Methylated DNA

124

Capture Kit (EpiGentek, Farmingdale, NY, USA) as described in our previous work.12, 17 In brief, the

125

genomic DNA that was isolated from the treated cells was subjected to sonication with a Bioruptor

126

sonicator (Diagenode Inc., Sparta, NJ, USA) to generate 200- to 1000-bp long DNA fragments. The DNA

127

fragments were incubated at 95 °C for two minutes, and immunoprecipitated with anti-5-methylcytosine 8 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 9 of 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Chemical Research in Toxicology

128

at room temperature for two hours. After purification, the methylation ratio of DNA was calculated by

129

qPCR.

130 131

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) Assay

132

The ChIP assay was performed using a MAGnify TM Chromatin Immunoprecipitation System

133

(ThermoFisher Scientific, Waltham, MA) according to the product protocol. In brief, after three days

134

treatment of E10 or F10 at the same concentration above, TRAMP-C1 cells were washed with PBS and

135

trypsinized. After a PBS wash, the chromatin in these cells (one hundred thousand cells total were used

136

per IP) were then cross-linked with 1% formaldehyde for ten minutes at room temperature, sheared to an

137

average length of 200–500 bp via sonication at 4 °C in lysis buffer. The diluted chromatin solution was

138

immunoprecipitated with 2 µg of anti-trimethyl-histone H3-Lys27 (H3K27me3) antibody (Abcam) or

139

mouse immunoglobulin G. After washing, cross-link reversal, DNA elution and DNA purification, the

140

relative amount of immunoprecipitated DNA was quantified via qPCR using primer 1 with 5’-

141

GTATCACTTCATCCACCCAGAG-3’(forward) and 5’-GTACGTGTAAAGGAACCCTGAG-

142

3’(reverse) and primer 2, 5’-GGGTTCCTTTACACGTACTTACTC-3’(forward) and 5’-

143

GGTCACCACAACACGAACTAT-3’(reverse), which cover the promoter regions of Nrf2. The

144

enrichment of the precipitated DNA was calibrated using the standard curve from the serial dilution of the

145

inputs, and the data are presented as the fold changes in the signal-to-input ratio normalized to the control.

146 147

Statistical Analysis

148

All statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS software, version 22.0, (IBM, Armonk, NY).

149

Data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation (SD). The statistical analyses were carried out using

150

one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) or Student's t-test. P values less than 0.05 were considered as

151

statistically significant.

152 153

Results 9 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Chemical Research in Toxicology 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

154

E10 and F10 Enhanced Nrf2 Expression by ARE-Luciferase Reporter Assay

155

The relative luciferase activity was analyzed in ARE-luciferase reporter vector transfected

Page 10 of 28

156

HepG2-C8 cells (Figure 2) by luciferase fluorescence signal normalized by protein expression. E10 and

157

F10 both enhanced greater luciferase activity than the negative control (0.1% DMSO in medium) in direct

158

proportion to concentration ranging from 50 to 1000 nM, which suggests that these two compounds can

159

activate Nrf2 expression and hence increase the expression of the antioxidant /detoxification genes with

160

an ARE sequence on their promoter regions. When comparing the activation efficacy in terms of

161

luciferase signal normalized by protein concentration, F10 produced a much more powerful effect at 1000

162

nM than E10, curcumin and SFN.

163 164

E10 and F10 Induced TRAMP-C1 Cytotoxicity

165

Based on MTS assays, E10 and F10 were found to diminish the viability of TRAMP-C1 cells in

166

direct proportion to time and drug concentration after 24h, 72h, and 120h of incubation (Figure 3). Since

167

the survival ratio of TRAMP-C1 cells incubated with E10 and F10 below 100 nM was above 80%, both

168

50 and 100 nM E10 and F10 were selected for studying the epigenetic mechanism of Nrf2 restoration.

169 170 171 172

E10 and F10 Enhanced Nrf2 expression and the correlated Antioxidant and Detoxification genes Nrf2 is a vital transcription factor for activating type II antioxidant and detoxification enzymes.7

173

In TRAMP PCa model, previous reports demonstrated that Nrf2 expression is decreased due to its highly

174

methylated promoter region.10 To evaluate the influence of E10 and F10 on Nrf2 and the correlated type

175

II antioxidant and detoxification genes, we did qPCR to compare the change in Nrf2, HO-1, NQO1, and

176

UGT1A1 mRNA levels in TRAMP-C1 cells upon a 3-day treatment with E10 and F10 (Figures 4A-D).

177

E10 and F10 at 100 nM both significantly increased Nrf2 mRNA expression (Figure 4A); E10 (50, 100

178

nM) and F10 (100 nM) induced a significant upregulation in HO-1 (Figure 4B); E10 (50, 100 nM) and

179

F10 (100 nM) significantly upgraded NQO-1 (Figure 4C); however, neither E10 nor F10 induced any 10 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 11 of 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Chemical Research in Toxicology

180

significant increase in UGT1A1 mRNA expression (Figure 4D). The protein expression of the above

181

genes upon the same treatment was analyzed by western blotting. After a 3-day treatment, E10

182

significantly enhanced the protein expression of Nrf2 and NQO1 at 50 and 100 nM and HO-1 and

183

UGT1A1 at 100 nM (Figure 4E). Likewise, higher concentrations of F10 also significantly increased the

184

protein level of Nrf2 (100 nM), HO-1 (50, 100 nM), NQO1 (50, 100 nM), and UGT1A1 (100 nM)

185

(Figure 4F). Hence, both E10 and F10 are able to raise the level of Nrf2 and the correlated antioxidant

186

and detoxification genes transcriptionally and post-transcriptionally in a dose-dependent manner.

187 188

F10 but not E10 Reduced the Methylation Rate of the CpG Regions in the Nrf2 Promoter

189

High methylation rate at positions relative (-1226 to -1086) to the transcription start site (TSS) of

190

Nrf2 has indicated a close correlation with a decrease in the expression of Nrf2 in the TRAMP model.10

191

Thus, we employed BGS to examine whether E10 or F10 can reverse the aberrant methylation status in

192

TRAMP-C1 cells. The results showed a high methylation ratio (88.13%) of the CpGs region in the Nrf2

193

gene promoter in the untreated cells (Figure 5A). In the positive control group, 3-day treatment of the 5-

194

aza-TSA (combination of 5-aza (500 nM) and TSA (100 nM)), the methylation rate was reduced to 63.89%

195

(Figure 5A). In E10 (100 nM for 3 days) and F10 (100 nM for 3 days) group, the methylation ratio was

196

changed to 85.64%, and 76.80%, respectively (Figure 5A). Treatment with 5-aza and TSA or with F10 for

197

3 days significantly induced demethylation in the Nrf2 promoter (p < 0.05). To further confirm the

198

findings, we performed a MeDIP-qPCR test. After sonication and pull-down by anti-5-methylcytosine

199

antibody, the first 5 CpG regions located at the positions relative (-1226 to -1086) to the TSS of the Nrf2

200

promoter was expanded and analyzed by qPCR. The results showed that the 3-day treatment 5-aza -TSA

201

group or F10 group (3-day treatment with 100 nM F-10) significantly decreased the methylation rate in

202

the Nrf2 promoter region (p < 0.01, Figure 5B), while there does not exist much difference between E10

203

and control (Figure 5B), which resonates with the BGS data. To sum up, F10 but not E10 can diminish

204

the methylation rate in the Nrf2 promoter, which may contribute to restoration of Nrf2 expression.

205 11 ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Chemical Research in Toxicology 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 12 of 28

206

Regulation of Epigenetic Modification Enzymes by F10 and E10

207

To analyze the influence of E10 or F10 on vital epigenetic regulation enzymes, the protein

208

expression of DNMTs and HDACs with E10 or F10 treatment were examined. DNMTs (DNMT1,

209

DNMT3a, and DNMT3b) were all significantly decreased only upon treatment with F10 (p < 0.05, Figure

210

6B). In DNMT activity assay, F10 at 50nM and 100nM can both inhibit the total activity of DNMTs (p