INDUCTION OF SPERMIDINE SPERMINE N-1-ACETYLTRANSFERASE IN HUMAN CANCER-CELLS IN RESPONSE TO INCREASED PRODUCTION OF REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES/

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in a number of disease stat es where they are believed to be responsible for cellular damage. In t his study we examined the effect of ROS generation on polyamine catabo lism. Treatment of human breast cancer cells with either H2O2 or hyper oxia increased the activity of spermidine/spermine N-1-acetyltransfera se (SSAT). These increases occurred before any significant signs of ce llular injury. Agents known to decrease the production of reactive oxy gen species such as dimethylthiourea and o-phenanthroline prevented th e increase in SSAT activity indicating ROS involvement in the inductio n process. These results suggest that induction of SSAT may be a prote ctive response to oxidative stress in mammalian cells facilitating rem oval of polyamines from the cell to prevent their toxic accumulation. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.