Apoptotic effects of hydrogen peroxide and vitamin C on chicken embryonic fibroblasts: redox state and programmed cell death

The pro-apoptotic effects of hydrogen peroxide and the purported anti-apoptotic effects of Vitamin C on chicken embryonic fibroblasts were investigated. Hydrogen peroxide induced morphological changes in a dose dependent manner, and a myriad of autophagosomes were observed using transmission electron microscopy. Doxorubicin elicited alterations were not inhibited by co-incubation with Vitamin C except that mitochondrial structure was slightly improved. TUNEL assay, cytotoxicity analysis and flow cytometry revealed that the cytotoxicity, DNA fragmentation and apoptotic rates were dose dependent upon treatment with hydrogen peroxide. Calcium homeostasis was disrupted in a dose dependent manner, and cell cycle was blocked at G(2)/M checkpoint at low concentration and S/G(2) checkpoint at high concentration respectively upon treatment with hydrogen peroxide. The administration of Vitamin C only has a modest effect against doxorubicin induced apoptosis, calcium homeostasis disruption and cell cycle arrest. This research demonstrated that the elevation of reactive oxygen species is sufficient to induce the apoptosis of chicken embryonic fibroblasts, whereas the administration of Vitamin C does not necessarily have certain anti-apoptotic effects, especially when the stimulus is not directly linked with redox state.