Identification and characterization of potential
inducers of aldehyde dehydrogenasefrom food phytochemicals

September 2017

YUJIA LIU

Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science
Doctor Course
Okayama University, Japan

PREFACE
The experiments described in the dissertation were carried out at the Graduate
School of Environmental and Life Science (Doctor course), Okayama University, Japan,
from October, 2014 to September 2017, under the supervision of Professor Y. Nakamura.
These studies are original work by the author and any other assistance and collaborationfrom others are specially acknowledged.
This dissertation has not been submitted previously whole or in the part to thecouncil, a university or any other professional institution for a degree, diploma or otherprofessional qualification.
YUJIA LIU
September 2017i

CONTENTS
PREFACE ........................................................................................................................... i
CONTENTS....................................................................................................................... ii
LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... iv
ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................... v
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... vi
CHAPTER 1 ...................................................................................................................... 1
General Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1
1.1

Ethanol metabolism ......................................................................................................... 1

1.1.2 ALDH2 mutant ............................................................................................................... 1
1.2

Food phytochemicals ....................................................................................................... 2

1.2.1Benzyl isothiocyanate ...................................................................................................... 2
1.2.2 Quercetin ........................................................................................................................ 3
1.3 Transcriptional factors involved in ALDH activity ............................................................... 3
1.3.1 Keap1/Nrf2/ARE pathway ............................................................................................. 3
1.3.2 AhR/ARNT/XRE pathway ............................................................................................. 4
1.3.3 Nuclear factor-kappa B................................................................................................... 5
1.4 Study outlines ........................................................................................................................ 6

CHAPTER 2 ...................................................................................................................... 7
Benzyl isothiocyanate ameliorates acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity by enhancing
aldehyde dehydrogenase activity in murine hepatoma Hepa1c1c7 cells ..................... 7
2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 7
2.2 Materials and Methods ........................................................................................................ 10
2.2.1. Chemicals and antibodies ............................................................................................ 10
2.2.2. Cell culture .................................................................................................................. 10
2.2.3. Assay of ALDH activity .............................................................................................. 11
2.2.4. RNA extraction and RT-PCR ...................................................................................... 122.2.5. Western blot analysis ................................................................................................... 13ii

2.2.6. MTT assay ................................................................................................................... 14
2.2.7. RNA interference......................................................................................................... 14
2.2.8. Statistical analysis ....................................................................................................... 14
2.3. Results ................................................................................................................................ 15
2.3.1. BITC enhanced the total ALDH enzyme activity........................................................ 15
2.3.2. BITC enhanced the gene and protein expression of ALDHs ...................................... 17
2.3.3. An Nrf2-dependent pathway was activated by BITC .................................................. 20
2.3.4. Silencing Nrf2 affected the total ALDH activity......................................................... 23
2.3.5. BITC pretreatment increased the resistance to the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity26
2.4. Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 30

CHAPTER 3 .................................................................................................................... 33
3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid is a potential aldehyde dehydrogenase inducer inmurine hepatoma Hepa1c1c7 cells ................................................................................ 33
3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 33
3.2 Materials and Methods ........................................................................................................ 35
3.2.1. Chemicals and antibodies ............................................................................................ 35
3.2.2 Cell culture and treatment ............................................................................................ 35
3.2.3 MTT assay .................................................................................................................... 35
3.2.4 Western blotting assay .................................................................................................. 35
3.2.5 ALDH activity assay .................................................................................................... 35
3.3 Results ................................................................................................................................. 36
3.3.1DOPAC enhanced ALDH activity ................................................................................ 36
3.3.2 Effect of DOPAC on gene expression of ALDHs ........................................................ 36
3.3.3 Effect of DOPAC on protein expression of ALDHs .................................................... 38
3.3.4 Effect of DOPAC on protein level of Transcriptional factor Nrf2, AhR and NF-κB... 40
3.3.5 DOPAC mitigated acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity................................................. 43
3.4 Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 45

CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 49
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................ 51
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 52iii

LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. 1.1 Diagram of the activation of Nrf2

4

Fig. 1.2 Diagram of the activation of AhR

5

Fig. 2.1 Modulating effects of BITC on the ALDH activities in several hepatocyte celllines.
17
Fig. 2.2 Modulating effects of BITC on the gene and protein expressions of the classicalfamily of ALDHs.
20
Fig. 2.3 Modulating effects of BITC on the gene expression of the phase 2 enzymes andNrf2 level in Hepa1c1c7 cells.
22
Fig. 2.4 Modulating effects of Nrf2 knockdown on the activity and gene expression of
ALDHs.
25
Fig. 2.5 Nrf2-dependent protection against acetaldehyde
ALDH3A1-dependent protection against acetaldehyde by BITC.

by

BITC

and
28

Fig.3.1 Modulating effects of DOPAC on the enzyme activity.

36

Fig. 3.2 Modulating effects of DOPAC on gene expression of ALDHs.

38

Fig. 3.3 Modulating effects of DOPAC on the protein expression of ALDHs.

39

Fig. 3.4 Modulating effects of DOPAC on the protein expression and nuclear
translocation of Nrf2, AhR and NF-κB.
42
Fig. 3.5 Mitigating effect of DOPAC on the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity in
Hepa1c1c7 cells.
44

iv

ABBREVIATIONS
ALDH, aldehyde dehydrogenase;
AhR, aryl hydrocarbon receptor;
AA, acetaldehyde;
ARE, antioxidant response element;
BITC, Benzyl isothiocyanate;
DOPAC, 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid;
HO-1, heme oxygenase-1;
GST, glutathione S-transferases;
GCLC, glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit;
NQO1, NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1;
Nrf2, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2;
NF-κB, Nuclear factor κB;
NAD+, β-nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide, oxidized form;
Q4′G, quercetin 4′-glucoside;v

ABSTRACT
Ethanol elimination is an important detoxified metabolism after ethanol absorption,
which mainly contains two steps. The first step is catalyzed by alcohol dehydrogenase,which converted ethanol to acetaldehyde.

In the second step, aldehyde dehydrogenase(ALDH) catalyzes the toxic aldehydes to the nontoxic acids.

In Asian countries, about

40% of the people have the mutation of ALDH2, which is called ALDH2*2. Thismutation leads to the accumulation of acetaldehyde which causes significant damage tothe liver and serious abnormal reaction of the body like vasodilation and facial flushing.
Food phytochemicals, such as polyphenols and organosulfur compounds, have been
confirmed to have various promising effects on health promotion.

In this study, I havebeen focusing on the induction of the ALDH activity by food phytochemicals to preventthe acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity.
In the Chapter 1, I determined the effect of benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) on the
ALDH activity in mouse hepatoma Hepa1c1c7 cells.

BITC, an ingredient in papaya, isa member of isothiocyanates (ITCs) mainly derived from the cruciferous vegetables.
ITCs have been reported to show several beneficial biological effects, including enhanced
detoxification against carcinogens and reactive oxygen species.

BITC was shown toenhance not only the total ALDH activity, but also the ALDH activity of thecytosol/microsomal and mitochondrial fractions.

BITC also increased the total ALDH

activity in rat normal liver RL34 cells and human hepatocellular carcinoma HepaG2 cells.
BITC significantly increased the gene expression of ALDH1A1, ALDH2 and ALDH3A1
in a concentration-dependent manner. BITC also increased the protein expression of
ALDH1A1, ALDH2 and ALDH3A1, suggesting that BITC enhanced the total ALDH
vi

enzyme activity through a transcriptional regulation.

Simultaneously, the gene

expression of phase 2 drug-metabolizing enzymes, such as NAD(P)H: quinone
oxidoreductase 1 and heme oxygenase-1, was increased by the BITC treatment.
Western blot experiments revealed that BITC not only up-regulated the Nrf2 protein
expression, but also stimulated the nuclear translocation of Nrf2. Furthermore, silencing
Nrf2 reduced the basal and BITC-enhanced levels of the total ALDH activity and gene
expression of ALDHs.

The pretreatment of BITC completely mitigated theacetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity, which was impaired by silencing Nrf2.

The present

study demonstrated that BITC is identified as a potential inducer of the total ALDH
activity to prevent the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity.
In the Chapter 2, I examined the effects of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC),
a major colonic microflora-produced catabolite of quercetin glycosides, on the total
ALDH activity in Hepa1c1c7 cells. DOPAC was shown to significantly increase thetotal ALDH activity.

DOPAC also significantly increased each gene expression of

ALDH1A1, ALDH2 and ALDH3A1. Even though DOPAC did not change the total
protein expression of Nrf2, AhR, and NF-κB too much, the nuclear levels of Nrf2 and
AhR, but not NF-κB, significantly increased after the DOPAC treatment.

These results

suggested that DOPAC is able to activate the signaling pathways of both Nrf2 and AhR,
but rather inhibit the NF-κB pathway.

Furthermore, the pretreatment of 10 µM DOPAC

for 6 h completely impaired the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity.

These results

suggested that DOPAC impaired the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity, possibly throughthe activation of the AhR and Nrf2 pathways with the inhibition of the NF-κB pathway.
The present study provides biological evidences that (1) an organosulfur compound,
BITC, and a phenolic acid, DOPAC, are potential enhancers of the total ALDH activity in
Hepa1c1c7 cells; (2) BITC enhanced the total ALDH activity, possibly through avii

transcriptional factor Nrf2; (3) Pretreatment of BITC attenuated the acetaldehyde-induced
cytotoxicity, also through the Nrf2 pathway; (4) DOPAC impaired acetaldehyde-induced
cytotoxicity, possibly through the activation of the AhR and Nrf2 pathways;

Taken

together, the present study represents a potentially efficient strategy to prevent thealcohol-induced abnormal reaction.

viii

CHAPTER 1
General Introduction
1.1 Ethanol metabolism
Alcohol, i.e., ethanol, is a small molecule soluble in both water and lipids.

It isabsorbed into blood from the stomach to the small intestine, then distributed throughout
the body.

The liver is the most functional organ for ethanol detoxification.

Ethanol isfirst metabolized to corresponding aldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and thenaldehyde is metabolized by aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) to acid (Matysiak-Budnik
et al., 1996).

Acetaldehyde, the most toxic metabolite of ethanol, it also can be directly

absorbed from food and tobacco smoke (Yan et al., 2016).

Accumulation of

acetaldehyde can cause a serious of diseases, such as mitochondrial dysfunction, liver
damage and gut barrier dysfunction (Setshedi et al., 2010).

Mitochondrial ALDH2 is amember of ALDH family, specially catalyzes acetaldehyde to acetate.

ALDH2

ameliorates alcohol-induced liver injury through oxidation of acetaldehyde (Tanaka et al.,2016).

ALDH1A1 and ALDH3A1 are also belong to ALDH family which have beenreported assistant effect of ALDH2 in acetaldehyde oxidation (Chen et al., 2015)(Lind etal., 2008).

In addition, ALDH1A1 play an important role in the formation of retinoic

acid which is a potent modulator for gene expression and tissue differentiation (Vasiliou
and Nebert, 2005).

ALDH3A1, a high proportion of mammalian cornea, protect against

UV-induced oxidative stress through cellular lipids peroxidation (Reisdorph and Lindahl,2007).
1.1.2 ALDH2 mutant
ALDH2*2 allele is ALDH2 mutant encodes a protein subunit with a lysine forglutamate substitution at position 487 which causes flush reaction (Xiao et al., 1995).
ALDH2*2 protein expressed as an increased Km for NAD+ and reduced V max.
1Thischange in Km for NAD+ renders the enzyme nearly inactive at the concentration of
NAD+ that occurs in cells and the clearance of acetaldehyde is decreased (Xiao et al.,1996).

ALDH2*2 allele also increased sensitivity to acute or chronic alcohol-induced

toxicity.

When exposed to a chemical carcinogen, ALDH2*2 allele pronounced liver

injury and accelerated developed to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)(Abe et al.,2015)(Jin et al., 2015).

1.2 Food phytochemicals
Food phytochemicals are compounds found in plant such as vegetables, fruits, nuts
and other edible plants.

Many famous food phytochemicals such as polyphenols,

flavanols, glucosinolates have been reported their protective effect on cancer and otherchronic diseases (Scalbert et al., 2011).
1.2.1 Benzyl isothiocyanate
Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) is one of isothiocyanates (ITCs) which are derived
from cruciferous vegetables, also is an extremely rich source in papaya seeds (Nakamura
et al., 2007).

Epidemiologic studies suggest that consumption of cruciferous vegetables

is protective against cancers (Higdon et al., 2007).

A wide variety of ITCs have beenreported to show several beneficial biological effects including enhanced detoxification
against carcinogens and reactive oxygen species.

We previously demonstrated thatbenzyl ITC (BITC) induces phase 2 drug-metabolizing enzymes such as GSTs
(Nakamura et al., 2000).

BITC inhibits cell proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest or

apoptosis in hepatocytes (Nakamura et al., 2002), T lymphocytes (Miyoshi et al., 2004),
colon fibroblasts (Miyoshi et al., 2007), cervical epithelial cells (Miyoshi et al., 2008),
renal proximal tubular cells (Abe et al., 2012), and colorectal cancer cells (Abe et al.,2014).

In addition, BITC reduces inflammatory responses in macrophages (Murakami

2

et al., 2003) and the allergy-related cytokine expression in basophil cells (Tang et al.,2015).
1.2.2 Quercetin
Quercetin is one of the flavono naturally occurring in onions, apples, tea and wine as
the glycosides (Hubbard et al., 2006).

It has been shown to exert anticancer and anti-

inflammatory effects (Srivastava et al., 2016).

Quercetin 4’-glucoside (Q4’G) is one of

the quercetin conjugates in onion, which is absorbed more efficiently than another typicalmonoglucoside quercetin 3’-glucoside (Q3’G)(Day et al., 2003).

Many studies haveshown that Q4’G is a good resource of mononglucoside which can prevent oxidative
damage (Hollman et al., 1997)(Graefe et al., 2001).

Mullen et al. used radiolabeled

Q4’G ([2-14C] Q4’G) to monitor the metabolites.

After 6 h ingestion, the flavonolglucoside was converted to glucuronide and methylated and sulfated derivatives ofquercetin in the small intestine.

Continually the flavonol metabolites declined andfinally converted to phenolic acids, principally 3-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (OPAC) and
3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), by the colonic microflora on entering thececum and the colon (Mullen et al., 2008).

1.3 Transcriptional factors involved in ALDH activity
1.3.1 Keap1/Nrf2/ARE pathway
The Keap1/Nrf2/ARE pathway is an important regulator of cytoprotective responses
to endogenous and exogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS) stress and electrophiles(Baird and Dinkova-Kostova, 2011).

Transcription factor Nrf2 (nuclear factor erythroid

2-related factor 2) translocated from cytoplasm to nucleus where it binds together withsmall Maf proteins to the antioxidant response element (ARE) in the regulatory regionsof target genes (Kensler et al., 2007).

ALDH1a1, ALDH2 and ALDH3a1 is probably
3mediated by the Keap1/Nrf2/ARE pathway because ARE core consensus sequences wereidentified in

the 5-flanking regionof their genes(Sreerama

and Sládek,2001)(Azmannabdullah et al., 2012)(Ushida and Talalay, 2013).

Fig. 1.1 Diagram of the activation of Nrf2

1.3.2 AhR/ARNT/XRE pathway
The AhR is a cytosolic receptor which the most widely recognized ligand is
2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), and regulate gene expression of Cyp1a1,
NQO1 and ALDH3A1 (Kurita et al., 2014).

On ligand binding, AhR binds to the arylhydrocarbon receptor nuclear transporter (ARNT) and translocates to the nucleus (Brauze
et al., 2006).

The AhR-ARNT heterodimer promotes the transcription of genes

containing xenobiotic response elements (XRE) in their promoters (Boesch et al., 1999).
The traditional role of AhR is metabolizing environmental toxins, moreover recently AhR
have been shown its effect on the development, cellular oxidation/antioxidation,
responses to ultraviolet light, melanogenesis, epidermal barrier function, and immune
4

regulation (Esser and Rannug, 2015).

A previous study demonstrated that theknockdown of AhR reduced the total ALDH activity by 80% in Hs578T cells (Stanford etal., 2016). AhR also interacted with RAR/RXR receptors which has modified effect on
ALDH1 (Bunaciu and Yen, 2011).

Fig. 1.2 Diagram of the activation of AhR

1.3.3 Nuclear factor-kappa B
The transcription factor NF-κB is a cytosolic protein complex which control DNA
transcription, it translocated to nucleus when activated.

NF-κB is found in almost all

animal cell types and famous for regulating the immune response to infection(Oeckinghaus and Ghosh, 2009). R.A. Canuto et al. reported that Docosahexaenoic acidinhibited ALDH3A1 expression by decrease of AP-1 and NF-κB binding activity (Muzio
et al., 2006).

5

1.4 Study outlines
In the present study, I assessed two food phytochemicals BITC and DOPAC as
potential ALDH enhancers to prevent against acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity used
Hepa1c1c7 cells.

BITC also increase ALDH activity in RL 34 and HepG2 cells.

I alsoinvestigated the mechanism involved in BITC or DOPAC induced ALDH activity in
Hepa1c1c7 cells.
My findings provide biological evidence that (1) BITC not only enhanced ALDH
activity, but also increased gene expression of ALDH1A1, ALDH2 and ALDH3A1
which provided a possibility that BITC enhanced ALDH activity at transcriptional level;(2) BITC increased gene expression of Nrf2 regulatory genes NQO1 and HO-1. And
BITC increased Nrf2 protein expression and stimulated Nrf2 nuclear translocation; (3)Silencing Nrf2 affected the total ALDH activity and each gene expression of ALDHs; (4)BITC pretreatment increased the resistance to the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity
through Nrf2 pathway; (5) DOPAC is an enhancer of ALDH activity and ALDH
expression; (6) Transcriptional factors AhR, Nrf2 and NF-κB probably involved in
DOPAC enhanced ALDH activity; (7) As a low toxic food chemical, DOPAC impaired
acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity. Taken together, these serious studies suggested both
BITC and DOPAC showed enhanced ALDH activity which play important roles inprevention from acetaldehyde-induced liver damage possibly though transcriptional
regulation of Nrf2 or AhR or NF-κB.

6

CHAPTER 2
Benzyl isothiocyanate ameliorates acetaldehyde-induced
cytotoxicity by enhancing aldehyde dehydrogenase activity inmurine hepatoma Hepa1c1c7 cells
2.1 Introduction
Alcohol, i.e., ethanol, is absorbed into the blood from the stomach to the small
intestine, then distributed throughout the body.

The metabolism of alcohol convertingto acetic acid basically involves two enzymes; alcohol dehydrogenase converting ethanol
to acetaldehyde and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) catalyzing the conversion fromacetaldehyde to its corresponding acids (Matysiak-Budnik et al., 1996).

Nineteen genes

have already been identified as members of the human ALDH family (Vasiliou andNebert, 2005). Among the ALDH family enzymes, ALDH2 is a mitochondrial enzyme
ubiquitously expressed with the highest level in the liver and plays a pivotal role in theacetaldehyde detoxification (Yoshida et al., 1998).

In Asian countries, about 40% of thepeople have the mutation of ALDH2, which is called ALDH2*2.

The

acetaldehyde-metabolizing ability of the ALDH2*2 individuals is only about 15% asefficient as that of wild type individuals. This mutation leads to the accumulation of
acetaldehyde which causes significant damage to the liver and serious abnormal reactionsof the body like vasodilation and facial flushing (Goedde et al., 1980), (Agarwal et al.,1981), (Xiao et al., 1995).

ALDH polymorphism may also result in an increased

vulnerability to developing cancer (Wang et al., 2014).

In addition to ALDH2, acytosolic ALDH, ALDH1A1, has also been reported to express at a high level in the livertissue of humans and play a major role in the acetaldehyde metabolism (Lind, et al.,2008). Another cytosolic ALDH, ALDH3A1, has been suggested to assist ALDH2 inthe metabolism of acetaldehyde and ethanol in vivo, even though it exhibits a selective
activity for oxidation of aromatic and medium-chain aldehydes (Chen, et al., 2015).
7

Therefore, the strategy for enhancement of the liver ALDH activities by theadministration of food phytochemicals is most likely to prevent humans, who areintolerant to alcohol with a low ALDH activity, from not only an alcohol-induced
abnormal reaction, but also chronic diseases including cancer.
A previous study demonstrated that the ALDH activity could be enhanced by theactivation of the Kelch like-ECH-associated protein 1/nuclear factor (erythroid-derived2)-like 2 (Nrf2)/antioxidant response element (ARE) pathway (Nguyen et al., 2000),(Kensler et al., 2007), (Baird and Dinkova-Kostova, 2011). Nrf2 is the key factor tomodulate the phase 2 drug-metabolizing enzyme activity, including glutathione
S-transferases (GSTs), glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC), NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) (Nakamura andMiyoshi, 2010). Evaluation of 20 inducers of the phase 2 enzymes belonging to various
chemical classes, including isothiocyanates, triterpenoids, flavonoids and stilbenes,
demonstrated that their induction potencies of ALDH were closely correlated with thosefor the NQO1 induction (Ushida and Talalay, 2013).
Isothiocyanates (ITCs), mainly derived from cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli,
wasabi (Japanese horseradish) and watercress, are highly effective for cancer
chemoprevention in vitro and in vivo (Nakamura and Miyoshi, 2010).

We previously

demonstrated that benzyl ITC (BITC), an ingredient in papaya (Nakamura et al., 2007),
induces phase 2 drug-metabolizing enzymes such as GSTs (Nakamura et al., 2000).
In the present study, we assessed BITC as a potential inducer of the total ALDH
activity using murine hepatoma Hepa1c1c7 cells.

We demonstrated that BITC enhances

the ALDH gene expression as well as the cytosolic and mitochondrial ALDH activities.
Experiments with Nrf2 siRNA indicated that BITC induces the transcriptional expression

8

of ALDH isozymes by causing Nrf2 to accumulate in the nucleus. Furthermore, thepretreatment of BITC increased the resistance to the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity.

92.2 Materials and Methods
2.2.1. Chemicals and antibodies
BITC was purchased from LKT laboratories, Inc. (St. Paul, MN, USA). Antibodies
against ALDH2, Nrf2, lamin B1, and actin, siRNA for Nrf2 (Catalog No. sc-37049),
siRNA for ALDH3A1 (Catalog No. sc-72033), and control scrambled siRNA (Catalog
No. sc-37007) were purchased from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA, USA).
Antibodies against ALDH1A1 and ALDH3A1 were purchased from Cell Signaling
Technology (Beverly, MA, USA) and ABCAM (Cambridge, MA, USA), respectively.
α-Minimum essential medium (α-MEM), Lipofectamine® 3000 Transfection Kit, andTrizol reagent were purchased from Life Technologies (Carlsbad, CA, USA). Fatal
bovine serum (FBS) was purchased from Nichirei Corporation (Tokyo, Japan).
Chemi-lumi One Super was purchased from Nakalai Tesque, Inc. (Kyoto, Japan).
Immobilon-P membrane was purchased from Merck Millipore (Billerica, MA, USA).
The Bio-Rad Protein Assay was purchased from Bio-Rad Laboratories (Hercules, CA,
USA). ReverTra Ace was purchased from TOYOBO Co., Ltd. (Osaka, Japan). Taq
polymerase was purchased from Takara Bio, Inc. (Kusatsu, Japan).

Pierce TM BCA

Protein Assay Kit was purchased from Thermo Scientific (Meridian Rd., Rockford. USA).
β-Nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide, oxidized form (NAD+) was purchased from
Oriental Yeast Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan). All other chemicals were purchased from
Wako Pure Chemical Industries (Osaka, Japan).

2.2.2. Cell culture
Hepa1c1c7 cells and human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells were obtained
from the American Type Culture Collection.
10

Hepa1c1c7 cells and HepG2 cells weregrown at 37oC in a 5% CO2 atmosphere in α-MEM supplemented with 10% FBS, 4 mM
L-glutamine, 100 U/ml penicillin, and 100 µg/ml streptomycin.

RL34 cells wereobtained from the Health Science Research Resources Bank, Osaka, Japan. The cells
were grown as monolayer cultures in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented
with 10% fetal bovine serum, penicillin (100 U/ml), streptomycin (100 µg/ml),
L-glutamine (0.3 mg/ml), pyruvic acid (0.11 mg/ml), and 0.37% NaHCO3 at 37 °C.

2.2.3. Assay of ALDH activity
Hepa1c1c7, RL34 and HepG2 cells (1.2 x 106) were seeded on 60-mm dishes at 37oC
and 5% CO2 atmosphere for 24 h, then treated with or without the different
concentrations of BITC in 0.2% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The ALDH activity wasmeasured as previously described by Moreb et al. (Moreb et al., 2000). Briefly, the celllysates were prepared by 1 ml lysis buffer (50 mM Tris (pH 8), 25 mM EDTA, 5 mM
β-mercaptoethanol, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, and 0.1% sarcosyl) andcentrifugated at 10,000 rpm for 10 min at 4oC. Twenty μl of 5 mM NAD＋and 20 μl of 5mM propionaldehyde (substrate) were added to 200 μl of supernatant to start this assay.
NADH was measured by the change in absorbance at 340 nm over 5 min. One unit was
defined as the amount of enzyme activity that catalyzed 1 μmol NAD+ to NADH per
minute. The mitochondrial and cytosolic/microsomal ALDH activities were separately
measured according to the method of Ushida and Talalay (Ushida and Talalay, 2013).
Briefly, lysis buffer contained 0.25 M sucrose, 1 mM 2-mercaptoethanol and 10 mM
Tris–HCl (pH 7.4), cell lysates were homogenized and centrifuged at 750 g for 15 min.
The supernatants were centrifuged twice at 12,000 g for 20 min to obtain thecytosolic/microsomal fractions and the mitochondrial fractions.

The mitochondrial

fractions (sediments) were dissolved in 0.25 M sucrose, diluted with one-half volume of11

1% sodium bicarbonate containing 1% sodium deoxycholate (w/v) and sonicated at 4°C
for five 2-min periods before the assays.

2.2.4. RNA extraction and RT-PCR
Hepa1c1c7 cells (5.0 x 105) were precultured in a 6-well plate for 24 h, then treatedwith or without the different concentrations of BITC.

The total RNA was extractedusing Trizol reagent according to the manufacturer’s manual.
reverse transcribed to cDNA using ReverTra Ace.

The total RNA was

PCR amplification was thenperformed with Taq polymerase. The Primers used in the PCR ampliﬁcation are as
follows:

mALDH1A1,(F)

5’-gACAggCTTTCCAgATTggCTC-3’

5’-AAgACTTTCCCACCATTgAgTgC-3’;

5’-gATgCCCATTgTgTgTgTTCg-3’
mNQO1,

(F)

and

(R)

(F)

and

(R)

mALDH3A1,(F)

5’-CCACCgCTTgATgTCTCTgC-3’;

5’-TCgAAgAACTTTCAgTATCC-3’

5’-TgAAgAgAgTACATggACCC-3’;

mHO-1,

5’-ACATCgACAgCCCCACCAAgTTCAA-3’
5’-CTgACgAAgTgACgCCATCTgTgAg-3’;
5’-gCTCTTTTCCAgCCTTCCTT-3’

and

and

(R)
(F)
and

mβ-actin,(R)(R)

mALDH2,5’-TgAAgACggTTACTgTTACTgTCAAAgTgC-3’
5’-AgTgTgTgTggCggTTTTTCTC-3’;

and

(F)

5’-CTTCTgCATCCTgTCAgCAA-3’.

The cycles and annealing temperatures used in the PCR amplification are as follows:
mALDH1A1, 20 cycles, 57ºC (product size 142 bp); mALDH2, 20 cycles, 57ºC (productsize 115 bp); mALDH3A1 (product size 138 bp), 25 cycles, 56ºC; mNQO1, 22 cycles,
55ºC (product size 290 bp); mHO-1, 26 cycles, 56ºC (product size 203 bp); mβ-actin , 16
cycles, 65ºC (product size 455 bp). The PCR product were separated on an agarose gel

12(3% or 4%), stained with ethidium bromide, and visualized under UV light.

Therelative densities of the bands were measured using Image J Software Program.

2.2.5. Western blot analysis
The whole cell lysates were prepared in lysis buffer (20 mM Tris-HCL, pH 7.5, 150
mM NaCl, 2 mM EDTA, 2 mM EGTA, 2 mM dithiothreitol (DTT), 10 mM NaF, 1 mM
NaVO3, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), 0.1% SDS, 1% Triton X-100)
containing protease inhibitor cocktail and left on ice for 20 min. After the cell lysates
were sonicated and centrifuged, the supernatant containing 30 μg of protein wereprepared for SDS-PAGE.

For separation of nuclear fraction, the cells were firstsuspended in buffer-1 (10 mM HEPES, pH 7.9, 10 mM KCl, 0.1 mM EDTA, 0.1 mM
EGTA, 1 mM DTT, 10 mM NaF, 1 mM NaVO3 and PMSF) containing protease inhibitor
cocktail and left on ice for 15 min. After 0.4% NP-40 was added, the cell lysates were
centrifuged at 500 g for 4 min.

Sediments were washed 3 times by buffer-1 andsuspended in buffer-2 (20 mM HEPES pH 7.9, 400 mM NaCl, 1mM EDTA, 1mM EGTA,
1 mM DTT, 10 mM NaF, 1 mM NaVO3 and 1 mM PVSF) containing protease inhibitor
cocktail, kept on ice for 15 min, then centrifuged 18000 g for 20 min. The supernatantcontaining 10 μg protein was prepared for SDS-PAGE.

After the SDS-PAGE

purification, the proteins were electrophoretically transferred to the PVDF membranes.
The bound antibody was visualized using a Chem-Lumi One Super.
densities of the bands were measured using Image J Software Program.

13

The relative

2.2.6. MTT assay
Hepa1c1c7 cells (2 x 105) were seeded in a 96-well plate and incubated for 24 h.
After the pretreatment of a non-toxic concentration of BITC (1 μM) for 24 h, the cells
were treated with different concentrations of acetaldehyde for 3 h.

After theacetaldehyde stimulation, each well was exposed to the MTT solution for an additional 2
h. The MTT containing formazan crystals in living cells were solubilized in a mixtureof HCl and 2-propanol, then measured at 570 nm by spectrophotometry.

The cellviability results were expressed as percentages compared to each of the controls.

2.2.7. RNA interference
Hepa1c1c7 cells (2.0 x 105) were seeded in a 6-well plate and transfected with Nrf2
siRNA (Santa Cruz, Catalog No. sc-37049, 120 µmol) or the control scrambled siRNA(Santa Cruz, Catalog No. sc-37007, 120 µmol) using Lipofectamine® 3000 Reagent
according to the manufacturer’s instruction. After 48 h of transfection, the cells weretreated with DMSO or 5 μM BITC for 24 h followed by Western blot, RT-PCR, MTT
assay and ALDH activity assay.

2.2.8. Statistical analysis
All values were expressed as means ± SD. Statistical significance was analyzed byStudent's t-test or a one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's HSD using XLSTAT
software.

A p-value of 0.05 was regarded to be statistically significant.

142.3. Results
2.3.1. BITC enhanced the total ALDH enzyme activity
We initially determined the cytotoxic effect of BITC on Hepa1c1c7 cells andobserved that the BITC at concentrations of more than 20 μM induced a significant
toxicity (Fig. 2.5A).

Therefore, 10 μM was used as the maximum concentration of

BITC to test. As shown in Fig. 2.1A, we observed a significant increase in the total
ALDH activity in the BITC-treated Hepa1c1c7 cells.

When the cells were incubatedwith 10 μM BITC for 24 h, the total ALDH activity was enhanced about 2 times
compared to the control group. We next separately investigated the ALDH activities in
the cytosolic/microsomal fraction as well as in the mitochondrial fraction. The basal
ALDH activity in the cytosolic/microsomal fraction was much higher than that in the
mitochondrial fraction.

As shown in Figs. 2.1B and 2.1C, the ALDH activities in eachfraction were significantly increased by the treatment of 5 μM BITC for 24 h.
Furthermore, as shown in Figs. 2.1D and 2.1E, BITC significantly increased the total
ALDH activity not only in rat liver epithelial RL34 cells, but also in humanhepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells. These results suggested that BITC is a potential
enhancer of the total ALDH enzyme activity.

A

15

B

C

D

16

E

Fig. 2.1 Modulating effects of BITC on the ALDH activities in several hepatocyte celllines.
Hepa1c1c7 cells or RL34 cells (1.2 x 106) were seeded on 60-mm dishes for 24 h, thentreated with or without the different concentrations of BITC for 24 h. HepG2 cells (1.2
x 106) were seeded on 60-mm dishes for 24 h, then treated with or without the different
concentrations of BITC for 3 h.

The ALDH activity was measured using

propionaldehyde as a substrate as previously described by Moreb et al. (Moreb et al.,2000). The mitochondrial and cytosolic/microsomal ALDH activities were separately
measured according to the method of Ushida and Talalay (Ushida and Talalay, 2013).
(A) total ALDH activity, (B) cytosolic/microsomal fractions and (C) mitochondrial
fraction in Hepa1c1c7 cells, (D) total ALDH activity in RL34 cells, and (E) total ALDH
activity in HepG2 cells.

All values are expressed as means ± SD of three separate

experiments (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 compared to 0 μM BITC group; Student’s t-test).
2.3.2. BITC enhanced the gene and protein expression of ALDHs
We next checked the gene expression of the classical family of ALDHs, such as
ALDH1A1, ALDH2 and ALDH3A1, by RT-PCR. As shown in Figs. 2.2A, 2.2B, 2.2C
and 2.2D BITC significantly increased each mRNA level of ALDH1A1, ALDH2 and17

ALDH3A1 in a dose-dependent manner.

Furthermore, as shown in Figs. 2.2E, 2.2F,

2.2G and 2.2H, BITC also significantly increased the protein levels of ALDH1A1,
ALDH2 and ALDH3A1.

These results suggested that BITC enhanced the total ALDH

enzyme activity through a transcriptional regulation.

A

B

C

18

D

E

F

G

19

H

Fig. 2.2 Modulating effects of BITC on the gene and protein expressions of the classicalfamily of ALDHs.
The total RNA was extracted from the Hepa1c1c7 cells treated with BITC for 24 h, thena RT-PCR analysis for each gene was carried out.

(A) representative and quantitative

data for (B) ADLH1A1, (C) ADLH2 and (D) ADLH3A1. The total protein was extracted
from the Hepa1c1c7 cells treated with BITC for 24 h, then a Western blot analysis foreach protein was carried out.

(E) representative blots and quantitative data for (F)ADLH1A1, (G) ADLH2 and (H) ADLH3A1.

All values are expressed as means ± SDof three separate experiments (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 compared to 0 μM BITC group;Student’s t-test).

2.3.3. An Nrf2-dependent pathway was activated by BITC
Several ALDH genes have been identified as Nrf2-regulated ones by the microarray
screening using Nrf2 knockout (Nrf2-/-) mice (Thimmulappa et al., 2002). Nrf2 also
controls the gene expression of the representative phase 2 detoxifying enzymes such as
NQO1 and HO-1 (Li et al., 2014).

As shown in Figs. 2.3A, 2.3B and 2.3C, thetreatment of BITC for 24 h also significantly induced the gene expression of NQO1 and20

HO-1 in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicated that BITC might activate theNrf2 pathway.

Thus, we examined the Nrf2 protein expression and nuclear

translocation by Western blotting. As shown in Fig. 2.3D, the treatment of BITC caused
a significant increase in the Nrf2 level of the total cell lysate. Furthermore, the nuclear
level of the Nrf2 protein was significantly increased by a 24-h BITC treatment (Fig. 2.3E).
These results suggested that BITC actually activated the Nrf2 pathway, possibly throughenhancement of the protein expression and nuclear translocation of Nrf2.

A

B

21

C

D

E

22

Fig. 2.3 Modulating effects of BITC on the gene expression of the phase 2 enzymes andNrf2 level in Hepa1c1c7 cells.
Hepa1c1c7 cells were treated with BITC for 24 h, then a RT-PCR analysis for each gene
was carried out.

(A) representative and quantitative data for (B) NQO1 and (C) HO-1.

Hepa1c1c7 cells were treated with BITC for 24 h, and the nuclear fractions as well as
total cell lysates were subjected to a Western blot analysis. (D) BITC increased theNrf2 protein level in the whole lysate. (E) BITC increased the nuclear accumulation of
Nrf2. All values are expressed as means ±SD of three separate experiments (*p <0.05,**p <0.01 compared to 0 μM BITC group; Student’s t-test)

2.3.4. Silencing Nrf2 affected the total ALDH activity
To confirm whether Nrf2 is involved in the BITC-enhanced ALDH activity, we usedan siRNA technique to knockdown the Nrf2 protein expression.

A Western blot

analysis showed that the Nrf2 siRNA transfection significantly depleted the Nrf2 level to
40% compared to the control (Fig. 2.4A). When the cells were incubated with 5 μM
BITC for 24 h, the nuclear level of Nrf2 was enhanced about 2.5 times compared to thecontrol group (Fig. 2.4B), suggesting that the Nrf2 siRNA transfection under the present
condition might be adequate for inhibition of the BITC-induced nuclear translocation.
As shown in Fig 2.4B, both the basal and BITC-enhanced levels of the total ALDH
activity were significantly decreased after knockdown of Nrf2. We next examined theeffect of Nrf2 siRNA on the gene expression of ALDH1A1, ALDH2 and ALDH3A1.
The basal expression of the ALDH1A1 gene was significantly decreased by the Nrf2
siRNA, whereas BITC still induced the ALDH1A1 gene expression even under the Nrf2
knockdown condition (Figs. 2.4C and 2.4D).

Although the basal ALDH2 gene

expression was not affected by the Nrf2 siRNA, the BITC-induced ALDH2 gene23

expression significantly decreased (Figs. 2.4C and 2.4E). Finally, both the basal andinducible gene expressions of ALDH3A1 were significantly decreased by the Nrf2
siRNA (Figs. 2.4C and 2.4F).

These results indicated that the Nrf2-dependent

regulation of the expression of ALDH genes might concertedly contribute to not only thebasal level, but also the BITC-induced enhancement of the total ALDH activity.

A

B

24

C

D

E

F

25

Fig. 2.4 Modulating effects of Nrf2 knockdown on the activity and gene expression of
ALDHs.
Hepa1c1c7 cells (2.0 x 105) were seeded at 6-well plates and transfected with the Nrf2
siRNA or control scrambled siRNA. After 48 h of transfection, the cells were treatedwith 5 μM BITC for 24 h followed by Western blot, RT-PCR, and ALDH activity assay.
(A) The Nrf2 protein level in the whole cell lysates. (B) The basal and BITC-enhanced
total ALDH activity. (C) Representative gene expression results. The basal and
BITC-enhanced expression of (D) ALDH1A1, (E) ALDH2, and (F) ALDH3A1. All
values are expressed as means ± SD of three separate experiments and analyzed byStudent’s t-test or a one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's HSD using XLSTAT
software. The different letters above the bars indicate significant differences among thetreatments for each condition (p < 0.05).

2.3.5. BITC pretreatment increased the resistance to the acetaldehyde-induced
cytotoxicity
We finally examined the effect of BITC on the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity.
As shown in Fig. 2.5A, the treatment of BITC alone for 24 h significantly decreased thecell viability, however 1 µM BITC showed none toxicity.

As shown in Fig. 2.5B, thetreatment of acetaldehyde alone for 3 h significantly decreased the cell viability.
Hepa1c1c7 cells were then pretreated with 1 μM BITC for 24 h before the acetaldehyde
stimulation. As shown in Fig. 2.5B, the pretreatment of BITC for 24 h completely
impaired the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity.

To determine whether the inhibition of

the acetaldehyde cytotoxicity by BITC was regulated by the Nrf2 pathway, the effect ofNrf2 siRNA on the cytoprotection by BITC was examined. Nrf2 siRNA itself did notcause any cytotoxicity in Hepa1c1c7 cells (Fig. 2.5C). The siRNA-mediated depletion26

of Nrf2 counteracted the protective effect of BITC on the acetaldehyde-induced
cytotoxicity, as compared to the control siRNA (Fig. 2.5C). These results suggested
that BITC mitigated the acetaldehyde cytotoxicity through the Nrf2 pathway.

Finally, todetermine whether the inhibition of the acetaldehyde cytotoxicity by BITC was regulated
by ALDH3A1, the effect of ALDH3A1 siRNA on the cytoprotection by BITC was
examined.

As shown in Fig. 2.5D, the ALDH3A1 siRNA transfection significantly

depleted the ALDH3A1 level to 20% compared to the control (Fig. 2.5D). Although
ALDH3A1 siRNA itself did not cause any cytotoxicity in Hepa1c1c7 cells, itcounteracted the protective effect of BITC on the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity (Fig.
2.5E). These results suggested that BITC mitigated the acetaldehyde cytotoxicity, atleast partly, through the ALDH3A1 up-regulation, even though the other ALDHs could
not be ruled out in the mechanism.

A

B

27

C

D

E

Fig.

2.5

Nrf2-dependent

protection

againstacetaldehyde

ALDH3A1-dependent protection against acetaldehyde by BITC.

28

by

BITC

and

Hepa1c1c7 cells (2 x 105) were seeded on a 96-well plate and incubated for 24 h. Afterthe pretreatment of 1 μM BITC for 24 h, the cells were treated with different
concentrations of acetaldehyde for 3 h. After the acetaldehyde stimulation, an MTT
assay was carried out.

(A) Inhibitory effect of BITC treatment on the Hepa1c1c7 cells.

(B) Inhibitory effect of BITC pretreatment on the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity. (C)Impairment of BITC-enhanced resistance to the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity by theNrf2 siRNA. Hepa1c1c7 cells (2.0 x 105) were seeded at 6-well plates and transfectedwith the ALDH3A1 siRNA or control scrambled siRNA, then incubated for 48 h.
The ALDH3A1 protein level in the whole cell lysates.

(D)(E) Impairment of

BITC-enhanced resistance to the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity by the ALDH3A1
siRNA. All values are expressed as means ± SD of three separate experiments andanalyzed by Student’s t-test or a one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's HSD using
XLSTAT software. The different letters above the bars indicate significant differencesamong the treatments for each condition (p < 0.05).

29

2.4. Discussion
In the present study, we demonstrated that BITC is a potential enhancer of the total
ALDH enzyme activity.

BITC dose-dependently enhanced not only the total ALDH

activity, but also the cytoplasmic/mitochondrial ALDH activity for 24 h (Fig. 2.1).
Simultaneously, the BITC treatments increased the gene expression of not only
mitochondrial ALDH, ALDH2, but also cytosolic ALDHs, ALDH1A1, and ALDH3A1(Fig. 2.2). These results suggested that BITC enhanced the total ALDH activity througha transcriptional regulation. Ushida et al. reported that other ITCs, such as sulforaphane,
erucin, ilberin and 4-(rhamnopyranosyloxy)-benzyl isothiocyanate, have potencies for
induction of the ALDH activity between 2-20 μM (Ushida and Talalay, 2013), whereas
phenethyl ITC was reported to be a potential inhibitor of the ALDH activity (Lindros etal., 1995).

A food component, alpha-lipoic acid, has been found to significantly

increase the ALDH2 activity in isolated rat heart mitochondria at a concentration of morethan 100 μM (Wenzel et al., 2007). Four flavonoids from Echinosophora koreensis also
have a positive effect on the ALDH activity in vivo (Choi et al., 2009). Compared to theother ALDH enhancers, BITC is one of the most potent food components for increasing
the total ALDH activity.
BITC significantly enhanced the gene expression of the Nrf2-dependent genes, suchas NQO1 and HO-1 (Fig. 2.3), as well as the ALDH genes (Fig. 2.2).

Nrf2 is a key

transcriptional factor which activates the expression of the genes that contain ARE in
their promoter. Nrf2 translocates to the nucleus where it binds to the ARE sequence,associated with its target genes and proteins.

We confirmed that BITC increased boththe protein expression and its nuclear translocation of Nrf2 (Figs. 2.3D and 2.3E).
Furthermore, the pretreatment of the Nrf2 siRNA decreased both the basal and
BITC-enhanced total ALDH activities, suggesting that the BITC-enhanced ALDH
30

activity is regulated by the Nrf2-dependent pathway. However, the Nrf2-dependency
was varied between the basal and BITC-induced expressions of ALDH1A1, ALDH2 and
ALDH3A1; the ALDH1A1 gene required Nrf2 for its basal, but not the BITC-induced
expression; ALDH2 only required Nrf2 for the BITC-induced expression and; ALDH3A1
required Nrf2 for both its basal and BITC-induced expressions. These results suggested
that the Nrf2-dependent pathway is, at least partly, involved in the BITC-induced gene
expression of ALDHs.

In addition to the Nrf2 dependent pathway, other signing

pathways are also postulated. The inhibition of the STAT3 signaling pathway or its
activator EZH2 genetically or pharmacologically diminished the level of the ALDH(+)
cells and clonogenicity (Shao et al., 2014). AMP-activated protein kinase regulates the
ALDH1A1 and ALDH2 expressions (Choi et al., 2011) (Kiefer et al., 2012). The gene
expression of ALDH3s was shown to be mediated by an aryl hydrocarbon receptor(Sládek, 2003) and NF-κB-dependent pathway (Weiner, 2007).

The retinoic acidresponse element is responsible for down-regulation of ALDH1A1 through interaction of
the retinoic acid receptor and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein β (Elizondo, et al., 2000).
Even though other signaling pathways might be involved in the BITC-enhanced gene
expression of ALDH1A1 and ALDH2, Nrf2 is one of the key transcriptional factors for
the BITC-enhanced ALDH activity.
The cytotoxic effect of acetaldehyde has also been reported in various cellularmodels which are derived from the liver (Kurose et al., 1997), gastrointestinal tract (Rao,1998), gonads (Mapoles et al., 1994), immune system (Sisson and Tuma, 1994) and brain(Yan et al., 2016). We also confirmed that acetaldehyde dose-dependently induced acytotoxicity in mouse hepatoma Hepa1c1c7 cells (Fig. 2.5B).

Tanaka et al. found that

acetaldehyde triggered oxidative stress via mitochondrial superoxide production in theesophageal keratinocytes and that ALDH2-deficient cells were highly susceptible to theethanol- or acetaldehyde-mediated toxicity (Tanaka et al., 2016). ALDH2-/- mice are31

more susceptible to the ethanol and acetaldehyde-induced toxicity than the wild typemice (Yu et al., 2009). Because the ALDH status is responsible for the sensitivity of theacetaldehyde-induced

toxicity,

acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity.

weexaminedtheeffect

of

BITC

on

the

BITC (1 μM) actually impaired the acetaldehyde

cytotoxicity (Fig. 2.5B). However, BITC did not impair the acetaldehyde-induced
cytotoxicity in the Nrf2-knockdown cells as well as in the ALDH3A1-knockdown cells(Fig. 2.5C and 2.5E). These findings suggested that the inhibitory effect of BITC on theacetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity is controlled by the Nrf2-dependent pathway and, atleast in part, ALDH3A1 activity. The present data are consistent with a previous study
showing that Nrf2-/- mice underwent a significant reduction in their ability to detoxifyacetaldehyde (Lamléet al., 2008). Anni et al. suggested another plausible mechanism
for impairment of the acetaldehyde-induced toxicity which involves cysteine andglutathione (Anni et al., 2003). BITC not only induced the gene expression of ALDHs,
but also the phase 2 genes including HO-1 (Fig. 4B), GST (Nakamura et al., 2000) and
GCLC (Miyoshi et al., 2008). All of the HO-1, GST and GCLC genes have beenreported to play an effective role in protection against oxidative stress (Ghattas et al.,2002) (Zou et al., 2014) (Franklin et al., 2002).

Therefore, the BITC-induced phase 2

enzymes cannot be ruled out in the beneficial effect on amelioration of theacetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity.
The present study demonstrated that BITC significantly increased the total ALDH
enzyme activity and the gene expression of ALDHs dependent on the Nrf2 pathway.
BITC mitigated the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity which is also Nrf2-dependent.
The present study represents a potentially efficient strategy to prevent thealcohol-induced abnormal reaction.

32

CHAPTER 3
3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid is a potential aldehyde
dehydrogenase inducer in murine hepatoma Hepa1c1c7 cells
3.1 Introduction
3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic

acid(DOPAC)

is

one

of

the

major

colonic

microflora-produced catabolites of quercetin glycosides, such as quercetin 4′-glucoside(Q4′G) (Mullen et al., 2008), rutin (Ura et al., 2002), and hyperoside (quercetin
3-galactoside)(Yang et al., 2013). Human fecal bacteria have an ability to catalyze theformation of DOPAC(Peng et al., 2014) and an excretion of DOPAC was increased inhuman urine after the digestion of polyphenols from chocolate (Rios et al., 2003).
DOPAC has also been identified as a significant metabolite of rutin in human blood bygas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Sawai et al., 1987).

DOPAC is also known asa metabolite of a neurotransmitter dopamine. Taken together, the actual occurrence of
DOPAC in humans is strongly suggested (Gesi et al., 2008).

We have recently

identified DOPAC as a predominant antioxidative catabolite of quercetin glycosides(Tang et al., 2016).

A pulldown assay using a DOPAC click chemistry probe identified

Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) as thepotential binding target proteins for the phase 2 drug-metabolizing enzyme up-regulation(Nakashima et al., 2016).

DOPAC also inhibited the hydrogen peroxide-induced

cytotoxicity in hepatocytes (Tang et al., 2016).

In addition to its antioxidant-related

activities, DOPAC mitigated the pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion from peripheral
blood mononuclear cells by in lipopolysaccharide (Monagas et al., 2009) and the
P-selectin expression in platelets (Rechner and Kroner, 2005).
The physiological metabolism from ethanol into acetic acid basically involves two
enzymes,alcoholdehydrogenaseand33

aldehydedehydrogenase(ALDH)

(Matysiak-Budnik et al., 1996).

The mutation of certain ALDH genes or ALDH

polymorphism results in the enhanced acetaldehyde accumulation, which causes serious
damage to the liver and abnormal reaction like vasodilation and facial flushing (Jin et al.,n.d.)(Abe et al., 2015).

Therefore, the strategy for enhancement of liver ALDH

activities by the consumption of food phytochemicals is most likely to prevent humans
from an alcohol-induced abnormal reaction.
In this study, to explore the possibility of DOPAC as a potential enhancer of the
ALDH

activity,

weexaminedtheprotective

effect

of

DOPAC

on

the

acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity in vitro. Our results showed that DOPAC increased
the total ALDH activity as well as nuclear protein levels of the transcriptional factor Nrf2
and AhR. Furthermore, the pretreatment of DOPAC increased the resistance to theacetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity.

34

3.2 Materials and Methods
3.2.1. Chemicals and antibodies
DOPAC was obtained from Sigma Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA).

Antibodies

against AhR, Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), and actin were purchased from Santa Cruz
Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA, USA). Antibodies against Nrf2 were purchased from.

Cell signaling Technology, Inc (Beverly, MA, USA). Other are as shown in Chapter 2.
3.2.2 Cell culture and treatment
The mouse hepatoma cell line Hepa1c1c7 from the American Type Culture
Collection were grown at 37oC in a 5% CO2 atmosphere in α-MEM supplemented with
10% FBS, 4 mM L-glutamine, 100 U/ml penicillin and 100 µg/ml streptomycin.
Hepa1c1c7 cells (1.2 x 106) were cultured on 60-mm dishes at 37oC and 5% CO2
atmosphere for 24 h and then treated with or without the different concentrations of
DOPAC in 0.2% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) for 6 h.
3.2.3 MTT assay
See Chapter 2.
3.2.4 Western blotting assay
See Chapter 2.
3.2.5 ALDH activity assay
See Chapter 2.

35

3.3 Results
3.3.1 DOPAC enhanced ALDH activity
As shown in Fig. 3.1, DOPAC significantly and concentration-dependently enhanced
the total ALDH activity after 6 h treatment.

The total ALDH activity in the cells treatedwith 10 μM DOPAC, the minimal concentration for significant enhancement, was
1.7-fold greater than that of control.

Fig.3.1 Modulating effects of DOPAC on the enzyme activity.
Hepa1c1c7 cells were treated with the indicated concentrations of DOPAC for 6 h. The
ALDH activity was measured using propionaldehyde as a substrate. All values are
expressed as means ± SD of three separate experiments (*p <0.05, **p <0.01 comparedto 0 μM DOPAC group; Student’s t-test)
3.3.2 Effect of DOPAC on gene expression of ALDHs
The ALDHs consist of a large family of enzymes catalyzing the conversion ofdifferent aldehydes into their corresponding acids. Among 19 genes in ALDH family,
ALDH1A1 and ALDH2 has been reported to express at a high level in liver tissue ofhuman and plays a major role in acetaldehyde metabolism (Lind et al., 2008).

Among

the ALDH family, ALDH2 is a main member catalyzing ethanol metabolite acetaldehyde
36into acetic acid (Agarwal et al., 1981). ALDH3A1 has also been suggested to assist
ALDH2 in the metabolism of acetaldehyde and ethanol in vivo (Chen et al., 2015).
Thus we examined the effect of DOPAC on the gene expression of ALDH1A1, ALDH2
and ALDH3A1.

As shown in Figs. 3.2 (A),3.2 (B) and 3.2 (C), DOPAC significantly

increased each gene expression of ALDH1A1, ALDH2 and ALDH3A1. Therefore,
DOPAC acts as a potential inducer of the total ALDH activity, possibly through thetranscriptional regulation of not only ALDH2, but also ALDH1A1 and ALDH3A1.

A

B

37

C

Fig. 3.2 Modulating effects of DOPAC on gene expression of ALDHs.
Hepa1c1c7 cells were treated with the indicated concentrations of DOPAC for 6 h. (A)A RT-PCR analysis for each gene was carried out; (B) ALDH1A1, (C) ALDH2, and (D)ALDH3A1. All values were expressed as means ± SD of three separate experiments(*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 compared to DOPAC 0 μM group, Student’s t-test).

3.3.3 Effect of DOPAC on protein expression of ALDHs
We next checked the protein expression of the classical family of ALDHs, such as
ALDH1A1, ALDH2 and ALDH3A1, by Western blotting. As shown in Fig. 3.3, DOPAC
significantly increased the protein levels of ALDH1A1, ALDH2 and ALDH3A1.

These

inductions of protein expression probably because their gene expressions were increased.

A

38

B

C

D

Fig. 3.3 Modulating effects of DOPAC on the protein expression of ALDHs.
Hepa1c1c7 cells were treated with the indicated concentrations of DOPAC for 6 h. A
Western blotting analysis for each protein was carried out; (A) Representative protein
39

expression results.

(B) ALDH1A1, (C) ALDH2, and (D) ALDH3A1.

All values wereexpressed as means ± SD of three separate experiments (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 comparedto DOPAC 0 μM group, Student’s t-test).

3.3.4 Effect of DOPAC on protein level of Transcriptional factor Nrf2, AhR and
NF-κB.
Previous study using a DOPAC click chemistry probe indicated that the signaling
pathway of Nrf2 and/or AhR is attributable to the gene expression of phase 2
drug-metabolizing enzymes (Nakashima et al., 2016).

NF-κB is known as the nuclear

factor interacted positively or negatively with Nrf2 and AhR (Wakabayashi et al., 2010).
To investigate the possibility whether transcriptional factors, such as Nrf2, AhR and
NF-κB, are involved in the ALDH expression, we examined their protein expression.
As shown in Fig. 3.4A, 3.4B, 3.4C and 3.4D, DOPAC at 10 and 20 µM significantly
increased the protein expression of Nrf2 and AhR, but not that of NF-κB. Next wechecked the nuclear translocation of these transcriptional factors. The nuclear levels ofNrf2 and AhR significantly increased after the DOPAC treatment, whereas the nuclear
level of NF-κB was attenuated by the DOPAC treatement (Fig. 3.4E, 3.4F, 3.4G and
3.4H). These results suggested that DOPAC is able to activate the signaling pathwaysof both Nrf2 and AhR, but rather inhibit the NF-κB pathway.

40

A

B

C

D

41

E

F

G

H

Fig. 3.4 Modulating effects of DOPAC on the protein expression and nuclear
translocation of Nrf2, AhR and NF-κB.
42

Hepa1c1c7 cells were treated with DOPAC for 6 h, and nuclear fractions as well as total
cell lysates were subjected to a Western blot analysis. The protein levels of (A)Representative results, (B) Nrf2, (C) AhR and (D) NF-κB in the whole lysate. The
nuclear accumulation of (E) Representative results, (F) Nrf2, (G) AhR and (H) NF-κB.
All values were expressed as means ± SD of three separate experiments (*p < 0.05, **p <0.01 compared to DOPAC 0 μM group, Student’s t-test).

3.3.5 DOPAC mitigated acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity
Acetaldehyde, the primary metabolite of ethanol in human body, covalently binds toa variety of thiols, such as GSH and protein sulfhydryls, and consequently induces lipid
peroxidation, thereby altering the liver function and structure (Matysiak-Budnik et al.,1996).

We finally examined the effect of the DOPAC pretreatment on theacetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity.

Although the 6-h treatment of DOPAC atconcentrations up to 200 µM did not significantly influence the cell viability (Fig. 3.5A),
the 3-h incubation with acetaldehyde at each concentration significantly decreased thecell viability (Fig. 3.5B). The pretreatment of 10 µM DOPAC for 6 h completely
impaired the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity (Fig.3.5B), suggesting that DOPAC at
the concentration required for the inducible expression of the ALDHs actually exhibited acytoprotective effect.

A

43

B

Fig. 3.5 Mitigating effect of DOPAC on the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity in
Hepa1c1c7 cells.
Hepa1c1c7 cells (2 x 105) were seeded in a 96-well plate and incubated for 24 h. (A)Effect of DOPAC on cell viability of Hepa1c1c7 cells. Cells were treated with different
concentrations of DOPAC for 6 h. (B) Inhibitory effect of DOPAC pretreatment on theacetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity.

After the pretreatment of 10 μM DOPAC for 6 h,

the cells were treated with different concentrations of acetaldehyde for 3 h. After theacetaldehyde stimulation, an MTT assay was carried out.

All values are expressed asmeans ± SD of three separate experiments and analyzed by a one-way ANOVA followed
by Tukey's HSD using XLSTAT software. Different letters above the bars indicate
significant differences among the treatments for each condition (p < 0.05).

44

3.4 Discussion
As shown in Fig. 3.1A, DOPAC significantly and concentration-dependently
enhanced the total ALDH activity after a 6-h treatment.

The total ALDH activity in thecells treated with 10 μM DOPAC, the minimal concentration for a significant
enhancement, was 1.7-fold greater than that of the control. The ALDHs consist of alarge family of enzymes catalyzing the conversion of different aldehydes into theircorresponding acids.

Among the 19 genes in the ALDH family, ALDH1A1 and

ALDH2 have been reported to express at a high level in the liver tissue of humans andplay a major role in the acetaldehyde metabolism (Yoshida et al., 1998)(Lind et al.,2008)(Agarwal et al., 1981). ALDH3A1 has also been suggested to assist ALDH2 inthe metabolism of acetaldehyde and ethanol in vivo (Chen et al., 2015).

Thus weexamined the effect of DOPAC on the gene expression of ALDH1A1, ALDH2 and
ALDH3A1. As shown in Figs. 3.2A, 3.2B and 3.2C, DOPAC significantly increased
each gene expression of ALDH1A1, ALDH2 and ALDH3A1, respectively.
Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 3.3, DOPAC also significantly increased the protein levelsof ALDH1A1, ALDH2 and ALDH3A1. Therefore, DOPAC acts as a potential inducerof the total ALDH activity, possibly through the transcriptional regulation of not only
ALDH2 and ALDH1A1, but also ALDH3A1.
A previous study using a DOPAC click chemistry probe indicated that the signaling
pathway of Nrf2 and/or AhR is attributable to the gene expression of the phase 2
drug-metabolizing enzymes (Nakashima et al., 2016)(Tang et al., 2016).

NF-κB isknown as the nuclear factor that interacts positively or negatively with Nrf2 and AhR(Wakabayashi et al., 2010). To investigate whether Nrf2, AhR and NF-κB, are involvedin the ALDH expression, we examined their protein expression. As shown in Fig. 3.4,
DOPAC showed the tendency to increase the total protein expression of Nrf2 and AhR,
45

but not NF-κB.

We next checked the nuclear translocation of these transcriptional

factors. The nuclear levels of Nrf2 and AhR significantly increased after the DOPAC
treatment, whereas the nuclear level of NF-κB was attenuated by the DOPAC treatment(Figs. 3.4E, 3.4F, 3.5G and 3.5H). These results suggested that DOPAC is able toactivate the signaling pathways of both Nrf2 and AhR, but rather inhibit the NF-κB
pathway.
Acetaldehyde, the primary metabolite of ethanol in human body, covalently binds toa variety of thiols, such as GSH and protein sulfhydryls, and consequently induces lipid
peroxidation, thereby altering the liver function and structure (Matysiak-Budnik et al.,1996). We finally examined the effect of the DOPAC pretreatment on theacetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity.

Although the 6-h treatment of DOPAC atconcentrations up to 200 µM did not significantly influence the cell viability (Fig. 3.5A),
the 3-h incubation with acetaldehyde at each concentration significantly decreased thecell viability (Fig. 3.5B). The pretreatment of 10 µM DOPAC for 6 h completely
impaired the acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity (Fig. 3.5B), suggesting that DOPAC at
the concentration required for the inducible expression of the ALDHs actually exhibited acytoprotective effect.
Nrf2 has been reported as a transcriptional factor involved in the inducible
expression of ALDH1 (Wu et al., 2012), ALDH2 (Nair et al., 2006), and ALDH3A1(Sládek, 2003).

In this study, we observed that DOPAC significantly increased thenuclear translocation of Nrf2 (Figs. 3.4B and 3.4F). A previous study demonstrated thatthe knockdown of AhR reduced the total ALDH activity by 80% in Hs578T cells(Bunaciu and Yen, 2011).

The gene expression of ALDH3 was shown to be mediatedby an AhR/xenobiotic response element axis (Sládek, 2003).

AhR has been identified

as a potential target of covalent modification by DOPAC (Nakashima et al., 2016).
46

Expectedly, DOPAC significantly increased the nuclear level of the AhR proteins (Figs.
3.4C and 3.4G). Although the promoter region of the ALDH3A1 gene is also reported
to bind with NF-κB, DOPAC did not increase its nuclear level (Fig. 3.4D). Taken
together, DOPAC might activate both the AhR and Nrf2-dependent pathways, but not the
NF-κB pathway, to increase the expression of the ALDH genes. Keap1 is postulated asa plausible target of electrophiles that facilitate the depression of Nrf2 (Nakamura andMiyoshi, 2010).

Electrophilic quinones have also been reported to have capability tocovalently bind to and activate AhR (Abiko et al., 2015).

Our group have successfully

detected the direct modification of Keap1 and AhR by DOPAC using its click chemistryprobe and the pull down assay (Nakashima et al., 2016).

These results indicated thatcovalent modification of Keap1 and AhR by DOPAC might be involved in the activationof these pathways and up-regulation of ALDH genes in Hepa1c1c7 cells.

DOPAC notonly induced the gene expression of ALDHs, but also the phase 2 genes including
glutathione S-transferase, heme oxygenase-1 and glutamate-cysteine ligase, catalytic
subunit, both of which play an effective role in protection against oxidative stress(Ghattas et al., 2002)(Nakamura et al., 2000).

Oxidative stress is also suggested to be

involved in the toxic mechanism of acetaldehyde (Matysiak-Budnik et al., 1996).
Therefore, the DOPAC-induced phase 2 enzymes cannot be ruled out in thecytoprotective mechanism against acetaldehyde.

Acetaldehyde can impair the proteinfunctions and gene expression by covalent binding formation with proteins and DNA(Ishii et al., 2009).

Glutathione is also a binding target for acetaldehyde and inhibits its

electrophilic reactivity (Setshedi et al., 2010). However, the treatment of Hapa1c1c7 cellswith lower than 100 μM of DOPAC did not exhibit a significant alteration of theintracellular level of reduced form of glutathione (Tang et al., 2016).

Therefore, theglutathione-dependent mechanism might be unattributable to the DOPAC-induced
cytoprotection against acetaldehyde.
47In conclusion, we identified a major catabolite of quercetin glycosides, DOPAC, asan ALDH activity enhancer. The DOPAC pretreatment also increases the resistance tothe acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity, possibly through the transcriptional regulation of
the ALDH genes by Nrf2 and AhR. Since DOPAC is a phenolic acid catabolite of
dopamine as well as quercetin with a much lower cytotoxicity (Fig. 3.5A), DOPAC hassome advantages for application as a food chemical to prevent humans from analcohol-induced abnormal reaction.

Future efforts will be concerned with further

understanding the signaling pathway of the ALDH induction as well as in vivo
significance of the protective effect of DOPAC against the alcohol-induced toxicity.

48

CONCLUSION
In the present study, the mechanism of BITC and DOPAC induced ALDH activity
were investigated.

The cell lines we used are mouse hepatoma Hepa1c1c7 cells, humanhepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells and mouse live normal RL34 cells.
In Chapter 2, the ability and mechanism of benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) enhanced
ALDH activity were examined.
(1) BITC incubation for 24 h, 24 h and 3 h dose-dependently increased total ALDH
activity in Hepa1c1c7 cells, RL34 cells and HepaG2 cells.
(2) BITC increased both gene and protein expression of ALDHs.
(3) BITC increased Nrf2 expression and stimulated its nuclear translocation.
(4) Silencing Nrf2 decreased total ALDH activity and BITC-induced gene expression of
ALDH2 and ALDH3A1.
(5) BITC mitigated acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity through Nrf2 pathway and partly
through the ALDH3A1 up-regulation.
In Chapter 3, I investigated DOPAC induced ALDH activity in Hepa1c1c7 cells.
(1) DOPAC up-regulated total ALDH activity.
(2) DOPAC not only up-regulated gene expression of ALDHs, but also upregulated
protein expression of ALDHs.
(3) The DOPAC pretreatment also increases the resistance to the acetaldehyde-induced
cytotoxicity, possibly through the transcriptional regulation of the ALDH genes by
Nrf2 and AhR.

49

Taken together, these series of studied suggested the induction of ALDH activity of
BITC and DOPAC can mitigated acetaldehyde-induced cytotoxicity through sometranscriptional pathway such as Nrf2, AhR or NF-κB.

50

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author expresses her deep gratitude and wish to thank Professor YOSHIMASA
NAKAMURA, Division of Agriculture and Life science, Graduate School ofEnvironmental and Life Science, Okayama University, Japan, for his guidance,
continuous encouragement, and constructive suggestion of his study. I also need to thankto Professor YOSHIYUKI MURATA for his supported, encouragement and advice given
at all stages of this study. And I thank to Professor YOSHINOBU KIMURA for his
advice and support in my study. It is a pleasure to acknowledge Assistant Professor
SHINTARO MUNEMASA, TOSHIYUKI NAKAMURA and NAOMI Ye for their help
and valuable advice during the research. It is pleasure to express my thanks to Sayaka
Nakashima, Ayuki Kurita, Momoko Yamanaka, Xiaoyang Liu for their collaboration
with this study. I thank all members of Laboratory of Food Biochemistry and Biological
Information who have so kindly helped and encouraged me during this study.
The scholarship from Privately Financed International Students made my period ofstudy in Okayama University possible.
I am also grateful to Professor BEIWEI ZHU, she gave me this valuable opportunity
to come to Japan and continue my study.
Finally, I wish to express my sincere thanks to my family for their patient andspiritual support.

51

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