The production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during programmed cell death (PCD) is still insufficiently studied and their implication in the process is not well understood. The present study demonstrates that the release of VOSCs with presumed antioxidant capacity (methanethiol, dimethylsulfide and dimethyldisulfide) accompanies the cell death in chemical-stressed tobacco BY-2 suspension cultured cells. The cells were exposed to cell death inducers of biotic nature mastoparan (MP, wasp venom) and camptothecin (CPT, alkaloid), and to the abiotic stress agent CdSO4. The VOCs emission was monitored by proton-transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS). The three chemicals induced PCD expressing apoptotic-like phenotype. The identified VOSCs were emitted in response to MP and CPT but not in presence of Cd. The VOSCs production occurred within few hours after the administration of the elicitors, peaked up when 20-50 % of the cells were dead and further levelled off with cell death advancement. This suggests that VOSCs with antioxidant activity may contribute to alleviation of cell death-associated oxidative stress at medium severity of cell death in response to the stress factors of biotic origin. The findings provide novel information about cell death defence mechanisms in chemical-challenged BY-2 cells and show that PCD related VOSCs synthesis depends on the type of inducer.

中文翻译：

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化学攻击的烟草 BY-2 悬浮培养细胞中与细胞死亡相关的具有抗氧化特性的挥发性有机硫化合物的释放


程序性细胞死亡 (PCD) 过程中挥发性有机化合物 (VOC) 的产生尚未得到充分研究，其在该过程中的影响尚不清楚。本研究表明，在化学胁迫的烟草 BY-2 悬浮培养细胞中，细胞死亡时会释放具有假定抗氧化能力的 VOSC（甲硫醇、二甲基硫醚和二甲基二硫醚）。将细胞暴露于生物性质的细胞死亡诱导剂马斯托帕兰（MP，黄蜂毒液）和喜树碱（CPT，生物碱），以及非生物应激剂 CdSO4。通过质子转移反应质谱 (PTR-MS) 监测 VOC 排放。这三种化学物质诱导 PCD 表达凋亡样表型。所识别的 VOSC 是在 MP 和 CPT 的作用下发射的，但在 Cd 存在的情况下则不会。 VOSC 的产生在施用激发子后几小时内发生，当 20-50% 的细胞死亡时达到峰值，并随着细胞死亡的进展而进一步趋于平稳。这表明，具有抗氧化活性的 VOSC 可能有助于缓解中等严重程度的细胞死亡对生物来源应激因素的反应中与细胞死亡相关的氧化应激。这些发现提供了有关化学攻击的 BY-2 细胞中细胞死亡防御机制的新信息，并表明 PCD 相关的 VOSC 合成取决于诱导剂的类型。