Mechanism of Alternariol monomethyl ether-induced mitochondrial apoptosis in human colon carcinoma cells

Alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) is a major mycotoxin produced by fungi of the genus Alternaria and a common contaminant of food products such as fruits and cereals worldwide. AME can cause serious health problems for animals as well as for humans. In this study, human colon carcinoma cells (HCT116) were used to explore the mechanisms of cell death induced by AME. Exposure of HCT116 cells to AME resulted in significant cytotoxicity manifested by a loss in cell viability mainly mediated by activation of apoptotic process. AME activated the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway evidenced by the opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (PTP), loss of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential (Delta Psi m) downstream generation of O-2(center dot-), cytochrome c release and caspase 9 and 3 activation. Experiments conducted on isolated organelles indicated that AME does not directly target mitochondria to induce PIP-dependent permeabilization of mitochondrial membranes. Moreover, no difference was observed in Bax-KO cells in comparison to parental cells, suggesting that the pro-apoptotic protein Bax is not involved in AME-induced mitochondrial apoptosis. Our findings demonstrate for the first time that AME induces cell death in human colon carcinoma cells by activating the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.