5-HMF prevents against oxidative injury via APE/Ref-1

Oxidative injury is involved in many diseases, including ischemic and neurodegenerative diseases. Antioxidant drugs can be used to relieve the oxidative injury caused by these diseases; however, there are very few antioxidant drugs available for clinical use. In this study, we found that 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furfural (5-HMF) protects against the oxidative damage induced by cerebral ischemia in rats or by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in PC12 cells. We demonstrated that 5-HMF performs this function via apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease/redox factor-1 (APE/Ref-1). APE/Ref-1 is a multifunctional protein involved in oxidative DNA damage repair through the base excision repair (BER) pathway and in the regulation of the DNA-binding activity of several transcription factors. The current study focused on the role of APE/Ref-1 in the antioxidative properties of 5-HMF. The results show that 5-HMF inhibited the reduction of APE/Ref-1 protein level caused by cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats or H2O2 treatment in PC12 cells. Treatment with an APE/Ref-1 inhibitor blocked 5-HMF-induced protection, suggesting that APE/Ref-1's DNA repair function contributes to antioxidation. In conclusion, this study suggests that APE/Ref-1 may be a potential target for antioxidant drugs.