Neuroprotection by glial cells through adult T cell leukemia-derived factor/human thioredoxin (ADF/TRX)

Adult T cell leukemia-derived factor (ADF) is a human homologue of thioredoxin (TRX) with many biological functions and is induced by various stimuli and stress. In the central nervous system (CNS), expression of ADF/TRX occurs in glial cells during ischemia and reperfusion. We showed that ADF/TRX was actively released from U251 astrocytoma cells upon exposure to a low concentration of H2O2. The addition of conditioned medium from H2O2-stimulated U251 cells or recombinant ADF (rADF) to the culture medium promoted the survival of neurons from embryonic mouse cortex and striatum, but the addition of mutant ADF (mADF), which has no reducing activity, did not. In addition to rADF, incubation with two other thiol compounds, 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) and N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), also increased the neuronal cell survival rate. In contrast, L-buthionine-(S,R)-sulfoximine (BSO), which inhibited the synthesis of glutathione (GSH), decreased the neuronal cell survival rate. Intracellular GSH was increased by incubation with rADF for 24 h, as it is with 2-ME and NAC. Redox active molecules such as thiol compounds may be survival factors for central neurons in vitro, and this capacity may be supplied by endogenous molecules, such as ADF/TRX and glutathione, under certain pathologic conditions in vivo.