Mitochondria hyperpolarization is an early event in oxidized low-density lipoprotein-induced apoptosis in Caco-2 intestinal cells.

We investigated the mechanisms underlying the pro-apoptotic activity exerted by oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL) in Caco-2 intestinal cells, a cell line which retains many morphological and enzymatic features typical of normal human enterocytes. We found that: (i) oxLDL induced mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis by provoking first an increase in mitochondrial membrane potential, followed, later, by the typical apoptosis-associated depolarization (type II apoptosis); accordingly, (ii) caspase-9 inhibition significantly hindered apoptosis while caspase-8 inhibition did not; and finally (iii) dietary phenolic antioxidizing compounds exerted a significant protective antiapoptotic activity. These results point to mitochondrial hyperpolarization as 'sensitizing feature' in apoptotic proneness of Caco-2 intestinal cells to oxLDL exposure.