Inhibitors of protein and RNA synthesis block the cytotoxic effects of oxygenated sterols.

Oxygenated derivatives of cholesterol are known to exhibit potent cytotoxic effects against many different cell types. The cellular basis of this cytotoxicity is not understood. Using two murine cancer cell lines (the EL4 lymphoma and the K36 leukemia cell line) and two oxygenated sterols (7-ketocholestanol and 25-hydroxycholesterol), our laboratory attempted to determine whether the cytotoxic action of oxysterols was mediated by a mechanism requiring protein or RNA synthesis. The addition of 5 microM 7-ketocholestanol or 25-hydroxycholesterol to the culture medium regularly caused the viable cell count to fall below 10-20% of control within 48-72 h. In the presence of inhibitors of protein or RNA synthesis, however, cell viability was consistently and significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner. For cultures of EL4 cells grown in the presence of 5 microM 7-ketocholestanol, for example, the addition of appropriate concentrations of cycloheximide, puromycin, emetine, and actinomycin increased the percentage of viable cells from a control value of less than 6% to 66%, 28%, 76% and 42%, respectively. Qualitatively similar results were obtained with the K36 cell line. Additional studies revealed that macromolecular synthesis inhibitors, while effective in inhibiting protein or RNA synthesis to varying degrees, did not affect the cellular uptake of 7-keto[3H]cholestanol, suggesting that their ability to protect cells against oxysterol-induced cytotoxicity was not due to an inhibition of the cellular oxysterol uptake. These observations suggest that the cytotoxicity of oxygenated sterols may be mediated by mechanisms requiring de novo protein or RNA synthesis and that oxysterol-induced cytotoxicity may provide a useful system for the identification of proteins involved in cell death.