Hydrogen sulfide alleviates oxidative stress injury and reduces apoptosis induced by MPP+ in Parkinson’s disease cell model

Abstract

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), an endogenously produced gas, is a cardioprotective agent against neurotoxin-induced neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the roles of H₂S in 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion (MPP⁺)-treated SH-SY5Y cells with the involvement of reactive oxygen species-nitric oxide (ROS-NO) signaling pathway in PD remain unclear. For this study, a MPP⁺-treated SH-SY5Y cell model was established to explore the regulatory role of H₂S in oxidative stress injury and cell apoptosis. With the cell viability, apoptosis, cytotoxicity, levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO), mitochondrial transmembrane potential (Δψm), contents of oxidative stress injury-related markers (glutathione, superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde), levels of apoptosis-related proteins (Caspase 3, Bax, Bcl-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) determined, this study demonstrated that NaHS (an H₂S donor) treatment could alleviated the reduction of cell viability and cytotoxicity, cell apoptosis, Δψm loss, contents of ROS and NO, and oxidative stress injury induced by MPP⁺. The present study showed that H₂S may protect SH-SY5Y cells from MPP⁺-induced injury in PD cell model via the inhibition of ROS-NO signaling pathway and provide insight into the potential of H₂S for PD therapy.