Dicoumarol relieves serum withdrawal-induced G0/1 blockade in HL-60 cells through a superoxide-dependent mechanism

13 páginas, 10 figuras, 1 tabla.This work was set to study how dicoumarol affects the cell cycle in human myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells. Cells were accumulated in G0/1 after serum deprivation. However, when cells were treated with 5 μM dicoumarol in serum-free medium, a significant increment in the number of cells in S-phase was observed. Inhibition of G0/1 blockade was confirmed by the increase of thymidine incorporation, the phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein, and the promotion of cell growth in long-term treatments in the absence of serum. Dicoumarol treatment increased superoxide levels, but did not affect peroxide. Increase of cellular superoxide was essential for inhibition of G0/1 blockade, since scavenging this reactive species with a cell-permeable form of SOD and the SOD mimetics 2-amino-3,5-dibromo-N-[trans-4-hydroxycyclohexyl]benzylamine (ambroxol, 100 μM) and copper[II]diisopropyl salicylate (CuDIPS, 10 μM) completely abolished the effect of dicoumarol. However, N-acetyl-cysteine, overexpression of Bcl-2 or a cell-permeable form of catalase were not effective. 5-Methoxy-1,2-dimethyl-3-[(4-nitrophenol)methyl]-indole-4,7-dione (ES936), a mechanism-based irreversible inhibitor of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), did not promote S phase entry, and dicoumarol still inhibited G0/1 blockade in the presence of ES936. We demonstrate that dicoumarol inhibits the normal blockade in G0/1 in HL-60 cells through a mechanism involving superoxide, but this effect is not dependent solely on the inhibition of the NQO1 catalytic activity. Our results send a precautionary message about use of dicoumarol to elucidate cellular processes involving oxidoreductases.Supported by Grants No. BMC2002-01078 (Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Cultura and Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología) and CVI-276 (Junta de Andalucía). R.I.B. acknowledges financial support by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, CVI-276, and Instituto Danone. C.G.D. and M.C.C.-P. were supported by CVI-276. N.F. was granted by the French Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer and by Junta de Andalucía.Peer reviewe