Hyperoxia causes senescence and increases glycolysis in cultured lung epithelial cells

Supplemental oxygen and mechanical ventilation commonly used in premature infants may lead to chronic lung disease of prematurity, which is characterized by arrested alveolar development and dysmorphic vascular development. Hyperoxia is also known to dysregulate p53, senescence, and metabolism. However, whether these changes in p53, senescence, and metabolism are intertwined in response to hyperoxia is still unknown. Given that the lung epithelium is the first cell to encounter ambient oxygen during a hyperoxic exposure, we used mouse lung epithelial cells (MLE‐12), surfactant protein expressing type II cells, to explore whether hyperoxic exposure alters senescence and glycolysis. We measured glycolytic rate using a Seahorse Bioanalyzer assay and senescence using a senescence‐associated β galactosidase activity assay with X‐gal and C(12)FDG as substrates. We found that hyperoxic exposure caused senescence and increased glycolysis as well as reduced proliferation. This was associated with increased double stranded DNA damage, p53 phosphorylation and nuclear localization. Furthermore, hyperoxia‐induced senescence was p53‐dependent, but not pRB‐dependent, as shown in p53KO and pRBKO cell lines. Despite the inhibitory effects of p53 on glycolysis, we observed that glycolysis was upregulated in hyperoxia‐exposed MLE‐12 cells. This was attributable to a subpopulation of highly glycolytic senescent cells detected by C(12)FDG sorting. Nevertheless, inhibition of glycolysis did not prevent hyperoxia‐induced senescence. Therapeutic strategies modulating p53 and glycolysis may be useful to mitigate the detrimental consequences of hyperoxia in the neonatal lung.