Diepoxybutane activates the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway and mediates apoptosis in human lymphoblasts through oxidative stress

Diepoxybutane (DEB) is the most potent metabolite of the environmental chemical 1,3-butadiene (BD), which is prevalent in petrochemical industrial areas. BD is a known mutagen and human carcinogen, and possesses multi-systems organ toxicity. We recently reported that DEB-induced cell death in TK6 lymphoblasts was due to the occurrence of apoptosis, and not necrosis. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms responsible for DEB-induced apoptosis in these cells. Bax and Bak were found to be over-expressed and activated, and the mitochondrial trans-membrane potential was attenuated in cells undergoing DEB-induced apoptosis. Cytochrome c was depleted from the mitochondria of TK6 cells undergoing apoptosis, and was released into the cytosol in Jurkat T-lymphoblasts exposed to the same concentrations of DEB. Executioner caspase 3 was deduced to be activated by initiator caspase 9. DEB-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, and the ROS scavenger N-acetyl-l-cysteine effectively blocked DEB-induced apoptosis in TK6 cells. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway is activated to mediate DEB-induced apoptosis in human TK6 lymphoblasts. These results further demonstrate that DEB-induced apoptosis is also mediated by the DEB-induced generation of ROS. This is the first report to examine the mechanism of DEB-induced apoptosis in human lymphoblasts.