Involvement of NF-κB and glutathione in cytotoxic effects of nitric oxide and taxol on human leukemia cells

Nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to be cytotoxic for normal and transformed cell lines. One of the intracellular targets for NO action is glutathione (GSH). GSH determinates cellular redox potential and modulates several biological events. During oxidative and nitrosative stress, glutathione system imbalance is associated with the upregulation of γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (γ-GCS) expression, which is mediated by nuclear factor κB (NF-κB). Our previous studies demonstrated a cytotoxic effect of NO and taxol on human lymphoblastic leukemia cells triggered by inhibition of NF-κB activity. In this study, we have demonstrated the involvement of GSH in taxol- and NO-induced cytotoxic effects on human CEM leukemia cells. NO- and taxol-induced a depletion of GSH levels in CEM cells, which was potentialized by l-buthionine-S,R-sulfoximine (BSO), an inhibitor of γ-GCS. BSO induced an increase in nuclear translocation of NF-κB. However, when cells were treated with NO or taxol in association with BSO, these compounds inhibited the constitutive activity of NF-κB. These results suggest that oxidative and nitrosative damage in lymphoblastic leukemia cells shall be mediated by NO- and taxol-induced GSH depletion as a consequence of preventing GSH synthesis.