The role of cellular glutathione peroxidase redox regulation in the suppression of tumor cell growth by manganese superoxide dismutase.

Manganese-containing superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) is an essential primary antioxidant enzyme that converts superoxide radical to hydrogen peroxide and molecular oxygen within the mitochondrial matrix. Cytosolic glutathione peroxidase (GPX) converts hydrogen peroxide into water. MnSOD is reduced in a variety of tumor types and has been proposed to be a new kind of tumor suppressor gene, but the mechanism(s) by which MnSOD suppresses malignancy is unclear. According to the enzymatic reactions catalyzed by MnSOD and cytosolic GPX, change in the cellular redox status, especially change attributable to accumulation of hydrogen peroxide or other hydroperoxides, is a possible reason to explain the suppression of tumor growth observed in MnSOD-overexpressing cells. To test this possible mechanism, we transfected human cytosolic GPX cDNA into human glioma cells overexpressing MnSOD. The results showed that GPX overexpression not only reversed the tumor cell growth inhibition caused by MnSOD overexpression but also altered the cellular contents of total glutathione, reduced glutathione, oxidized glutathione, and intracellular reactive oxygen species. Overexpression of GPX also inhibited degradation of the inhibitory subunit alpha of nuclear factor-KB. These results suggest that hydrogen peroxide or other hydroperoxides appear to be key reactants in the tumor suppression by MnSOD overexpression, and growth inhibition correlates with the intracellular redox status. This work suggests that manipulations that inhibit peroxide removal should enhance the tumor suppressive effect of MnSOD overexpression.