p53 activation contributes to patulin-induced nephrotoxicity via modulation of reactive oxygen species generation

Patulin is a major mycotoxin found in fungal contaminated fruits and their derivative products. Previous studies showed that patulin was able to induce increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and oxidative stress was suggested to play a pivotal role in patulin-induced multiple toxic signaling. The objective of the present study was to investigate the functional role of p53 in patulin-induced oxidative stress. Our study demonstrated that higher levels of ROS generation and DNA damage were induced in wild-type p53 cell lines than that found in either knockdown or knockout p53 cell lines in response to patulin exposure, suggesting p53 activation contributed to patulin-induced ROS generation. Mechanistically, we revealed that the pro-oxidant role of p53 in response to patulin was attributed to its ability to suppress catalase activity through up-regulation of PIG3. Moreover, these in vitro findings were further validated in the p53 wild-type/knockout mouse model. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report addressing the functional role of p53 in patulin-induced oxidative stress. The findings of the present study provided novel insights into understanding mechanisms behind oxidative stress in response to patulin exposure.