Author(s)

Seikou Kim, Kouichi Yamamoto, Yusuke Nakamura, Yuichi Otoyo, Atsushi Yamatodani

Laboratory of Pharmacology, Department of Medical Science and Technology, Division of Health Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.

Cisplatin has been used for the treatment of various solid cancers or sarcomas; however, it can induce severe adverse effects. Among these adverse effects, nephrotoxicity, which has the potential to be a dose-limiting factor of this agent, develops due to the secretion of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) from macrophages; however, the precise mechanisms are still unclear. To elucidate possible mechanisms, we investigated the involvement of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cisplatin-induced TNF-α mRNA expression and protein production in the mouse macrophage-like cell line, RAW 264. Cisplatin (1 μM) significantly increased TNF-α mRNA expression and protein production. Extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 MAPK, but not c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), phosphorylation increased in response to cisplatin. Although an ERK inhibitor (PD98059) suppressed both cisplatin-induced TNF-α mRNA expression and its protein production, a p38 MAPK inhibitor (SB203580) decreased TNF-α protein production only. A JNK inhibitor (SP600125) had no effect on cisplatin-induced TNF-α mRNA expression. Furthermore, a scavenger of ROS, N,N’-dimethylthiourea, suppressed both ERK activation and TNF-α mRNA expression. These results suggest that the phosphorylation of ERK by ROS is involved in cisplatin-induced TNF-α mRNA expression and that the signaling pathway of p38 MAPK is related to TNF-α protein production.

Cisplatin; Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS); Macrophage; RAW264; MAPK; TNF-α

S. Kim, K. Yamamoto, Y. Nakamura, Y. Otoyo and A. Yamatodani, "A Possible Mechanism of Cisplatin-Induced Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)-α Production in Murine Macrophages," Pharmacology & Pharmacy, Vol. 4 No. 2, 2013, pp. 146-151. doi: 10.4236/pp.2013.42021.