Extracellular oxygen radicals produced by H9c2 rat heart cells in monolayer cultures during ischemia and subsequent reoxygenation were monitored using the luminol-horseradish peroxidase-enhanced chemiluminescence technique. As expected, the photon count diminishes during ischemia but again rapidly attains normal values following reoxygenation. In the presence of superoxide dismutase, this photon emission is repressed, as is also the case in the presence of diphenylene iodonium, a specific inhibitor of NADPH-oxidase activity. Thus, the conclusion seems justified that H9c2 rat heart cells in monolayer cultures produce superoxide radicals extracellularly due to an NADPH oxidase-like action. In order to characterize this extracellular superoxide-generating system, we determined its sensitivity to increased temperatures, inhibition of protein synthesis and perturbations of cytoskeletal structures. Heat shocks result in a delayed inactivation of the NADPH oxidase activity followed by recovery, the kinetics of which depend on the imposed heat shock temperature. This inactivation is independent of protein synthesis and actin cytoskeletal structures, but the recovery of the enzyme's activity is dependent on these entities.
Copyright 1997 Academic Press Limited.