Hydrogen Sulfide Protects against Chemical Hypoxia-Induced Injury by Inhibiting ROS-Activated ERK1/2 and p38MAPK Signaling Pathways in PC12 Cells

Hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) has been proposed as a novel neuromodulator and neuroprotective agent. Cobalt chloride (CoCl(2)) is a well-known hypoxia mimetic agent. We have demonstrated that H(2)S protects against CoCl(2)-induced injuries in PC12 cells. However, whether the members of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), in particular, extracellular signal-regulated kinase1/2(ERK1/2) and p38MAPK are involved in the neuroprotection of H(2)S against chemical hypoxia-induced injuries of PC12 cells is not understood. We observed that CoCl(2) induced expression of transcriptional factor hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α), decreased cystathionine-β synthase (CBS, a synthase of H(2)S) expression, and increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to injuries of the cells, evidenced by decrease in cell viability, dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) , caspase-3 activation and apoptosis, which were attenuated by pretreatment with NaHS (a donor of H(2)S) or N-acetyl-L cystein (NAC), a ROS scavenger. CoCl(2) rapidly activated ERK1/2, p38MAPK and C-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). Inhibition of ERK1/2 or p38MAPK or JNK with kinase inhibitors (U0126 or SB203580 or SP600125, respectively) or genetic silencing of ERK1/2 or p38MAPK by RNAi (Si-ERK1/2 or Si-p38MAPK) significantly prevented CoCl(2)-induced injuries. Pretreatment with NaHS or NAC inhibited not only CoCl(2)-induced ROS production, but also phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and p38MAPK. Thus, we demonstrated that a concurrent activation of ERK1/2, p38MAPK and JNK participates in CoCl(2)-induced injuries and that H(2)S protects PC12 cells against chemical hypoxia-induced injuries by inhibition of ROS-activated ERK1/2 and p38MAPK pathways. Our results suggest that inhibitors of ERK1/2, p38MAPK and JNK or antioxidants may be useful for preventing and treating hypoxia-induced neuronal injury.