oa Influence Of Qatar Agricultural Products On Human Cell Redox Homeostasis

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated ubiquitously by all mammalian cells and at small concentrations they act as physiological mediators of cellular response to various stimuli. Excessive ROS damages DNA, RNA, proteins and lipids triggering various diseases. Cellular redox homeostasis is thus, balanced by endogenous and exogenous antioxidant defense systems. Natural antioxidants have made a significant impact in the research area of exogenous antioxidants as they exhibit universal action in various redox systems. In the present work we have studied the effects of two Qatar grown vegetables (cucumber and zucchini) on cellular redox homeostasis of HaCaT (Human keratinocytes) and AGS (Human gastric adenocarcinoma) cell lines. Vegetables were collected from the farm in Qatar and their juice was extracted by a heavy-duty juicer, with a stone mill-like screw, using a low speed of 80 RPMs resulting in minimal heat build up and oxidation of samples. Copper sulphate was used to induce cellular oxidative damage to membranes and molecules altering redox homeostasis. The impact of extracts on cell proliferation in the presence or absence of copper sulphate was tested by MTT assay and High content screening assay while flow cytometry based Annexin V assay was used to detect apoptotic cells. Moreover, impact of extracts on cellular redox homeostasis was evaluated by dichlorodihydro fluorescein (DCFH) assay that measures the intracellular ROS production and by MitoSOX assay for the production of superoxide by mitochondria. The obtained results revealed strong protective role of cucumber and zucchini in both human keratinocytes and gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines indicating the importance of dietary antioxidants with a potentially significant impact on the health of individuals.