Radioprotection of 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde (VND3207) in culture cells is associated with minimizing DNA damage and activating Akt

Vanillin is a naturally occurring compound and food-flavoring agent with antioxidant and antimutagenic activities. In present study, we explored the radioprotective effect of a novel vanillin derivative VND3207 (4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde). VND3207 has a much higher potential in scavenging hydroxyl radical and superoxide radical than vanillin as indicated in the ESR spin-trapping measurement, and it can effectively protect plasmid DNA against 10–50 Gy γ-ray induced breaks in vitro at the concentrations as low as 10–20 μM. Using human lymphoblastoid AHH-1 cells and human fibroblastoid HFS cells, we demonstrated that VND3207 at 5–40 μM concentrations significantly attenuated the inhibition of proliferation and occurrence of apoptosis produced by 1–8 Gy γ-irradiation. In the cultured cells, VND3207 significantly decreased the initial production and residual level of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) induced by 2 or 8 Gy irradiation. Treatment of VND3207 enhanced the level of DNA-PKcs protein, a critical component of DNA DSB repair pathway in the cells with or without γ-irradiation. Consistently, the phosphorylation of Akt protein, a mediator of survival signal, as well as its substrate GSK3β was concurrently increased by VND3207. Our results suggest that VND3207 has radioprotection effect through its capabilities as a powerful antioxidant, in minimizing DNA damage, and activating survival signal Akt pathway, and it may be of value in the development of radioprotective compounds.