Enzymatic and non-enzymatic pathways of kynurenines' dimerization: the molecular factors for oxidative stress development

Kynurenines, the products of tryptophan oxidative degradation, are involved in multiple neuropathologies, such as Huntington's chorea, Parkinson's disease, senile dementia, etc. The major cause for hydroxykynurenines's neurotoxicity is the oxidative stress induced by the reactive oxygen species (ROS), the by-products of L-3-hydroxykynurenine (L-3HOK) and 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid (3HAA) oxidative self-dimerization. 2-aminophenol (2AP), a structural precursor of L-3HOK and 3HAA, undergoes the oxidative conjugation to form 2-aminophenoxazinone. There are several modes of 2AP dimerization, including both enzymatic and non-enzymatic stages. In this study, the free energies for 2AP, L-3HOK and 3HAA dimerization stages have been calculated at B3LYP/6-311G(d,p)//6-311+(O)+G(d) level, both in the gas phase and in heptane or water solution. For the intermediates, ionization potentials and electron affinities were calculated, as well as free energy and kinetics of molecular oxygen interaction with several non-enzymatically formed dimers. H-atom donating power of the intermediates increases upon the progress of the oxidation, making possible generation of hydroperoxyl radical or hydrogen peroxide from O(2) at the last stages. Among the dimerization intermediates, 2-aminophenoxazinole derivatives have the lowest ionization potential and can reduce O(2) to superoxide anion. The rate for O-H homolytic bond dissociation is significantly higher than that for C-H bond in non-enzymatic quinoneimine conjugate. However, the last reaction passes irreversibly, reducing O(2) to hydroperoxyl radical. The inorganic ferrous iron and the heme group of Drosophila phenoxazinone synthase significantly reduce the energy cost of 2AP H-atom abstraction by O(2). We have also shown experimentally that total antioxidant capacity decreases in Drosophila mutant cardinal with L-3HOK excess relative to the wild type Canton-S, and lipid peroxidation decreases in aged cardinal. Taken together, our data supports the conception of hydroxykynurenines' dual role in neurotoxicity: serving as antioxidants themselves, blocking lipid peroxidation by H-atom donation, they also can easily generate ROS upon dimerization, leading to the oxidative stress development.