Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Biol Chem. Feb 26, 2017; 8(1): 86-94
Published online Feb 26, 2017. doi: 10.4331/wjbc.v8.i1.86
L-carnitine protects C2C12 cells against mitochondrial superoxide overproduction and cell death
Françoise Le Borgne, Gaétan Ravaut, Arnaud Bernard, Jean Demarquoy
Françoise Le Borgne, Gaétan Ravaut, Arnaud Bernard, Jean Demarquoy, Université de Bourgogne - UFR SVTE, 21000 Dijon, France
Jean Demarquoy, Faculté des Science Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France
Author contributions: All authors designed and performed the research, analyzed the data; Le Borgne F and Demarquoy J wrote the paper.
Institutional review board statement: Not relevant no human or animal subjects were used in these experiments.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: Not relevant no animal were used in these experiments.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Each author declares no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: All data are available on request.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Jean Demarquoy, PhD, Faculté des Science Gabriel, 6 Bd Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France. jean.demarquoy@u-bourgogne.fr
Telephone: +33-3-80396316 Fax: +33-3-80396250
Received: August 4, 2016
Peer-review started: August 5, 2016
First decision: September 2, 2016
Revised: November 4, 2016
Accepted: December 13, 2016
Article in press: December 14, 2016
Published online: February 26, 2017
Processing time: 204 Days and 23 Hours
Abstract
AIM

To identify and characterize the protective effect that L-carnitine exerted against an oxidative stress in C2C12 cells.

METHODS

Myoblastic C2C12 cells were treated with menadione, a vitamin K analog that engenders oxidative stress, and the protective effect of L-carnitine (a nutrient involved in fatty acid metabolism and the control of the oxidative process), was assessed by monitoring various parameters related to the oxidative stress, autophagy and cell death.

RESULTS

Associated with its physiological function, a muscle cell metabolism is highly dependent on oxygen and may produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), especially under pathological conditions. High levels of ROS are known to induce injuries in cell structure as they interact at many levels in cell function. In C2C12 cells, a treatment with menadione induced a loss of transmembrane mitochondrial potential, an increase in mitochondrial production of ROS; it also induces autophagy and was able to provoke cell death. Pre-treatment of the cells with L-carnitine reduced ROS production, diminished autophagy and protected C2C12 cells against menadione-induced deleterious effects.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, L-carnitine limits the oxidative stress in these cells and prevents cell death.

Keywords: Superoxide anions; Mitochondria; Reactive Autophagy; Muscle; Carnitine; Oxygen species; Cell death

Core tip: The overall goal of this study was to identify and characterize the protective effect of L-carnitine on oxidative stress in muscle cells. We, first, induced an oxidative stress in cultured muscle cells and parameters associated with the stress were measured. In another set of experiments, cells were treated with L-carnitine and the same parameters measured. The comparison among the data allowed showing that L-carnitine was able to fight against oxidative stress and dramatically limit cell death. In conclusion, our results show that, at least in muscle cells, L-carnitine can be considered as a non-conventional antioxidant.