Fusaric Acid immunotoxicity and MAPK activation in normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells and Thp-1 cells

Fusaric acid (FA), a food-borne mycotoxin, is a potent divalent metal chelator. The human immune system is complex and susceptible to environmental insult however, the immunotoxity of FA remains unknown. We investigated the immunotoxicity of FA on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and Thp-1 cells. FA was cytotoxic to PBMCs (IC(50)-240.8 μg/ml) and Thp-1 (IC(50)-107.7 μg/ml) cells at 24 h. FA induced early apoptosis but significantly decreased caspase activity in PBMCs, a characteristic of paraptosis. In Thp-1 cells, FA induced apoptosis and increased caspase −9 and −3/7 activities. In PBMCs, FA maintained mitochondrial membrane potential and decreased protein expression of Bax whilst increasing expression of p-Bcl-2; FA induced oxidative stress and depleted ATP levels in both cell types. In Thp-1 cells, FA increased mitochondrial membrane depolarization and decreased p-Bcl-2 expression. In PBMCs, FA significantly up-regulated the MAPK protein expression of p-ERK and p-JNK but down-regulated p-p38 expression. In Thp-1 cells, FA up-regulated MAPK protein expression of p-ERK whilst p-JNK and p-p38 expression were down-regulated. In conclusion FA induced programmed cell death and altered MAPK signaling in healthy PBMCs and Thp-1 cells strongly suggesting a possible mechanism of FA induced immunotoxicity in vitro.