Background: Oxidative stress plays a critical role in lung cancer progression. Carotenoids are efficient antioxidants. The objective of this study was to explore the efficacy of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and carotenoids in cigarette smoke-induced oxidative stress within A549 human lung cancer epithelial cells. Methods: A549 cells were pretreated with 1-nM, 10-nM, 100-nM, 1-μM and 10-μM ATRA, β-carotene (BC) and lycopene for 24 h, followed by exposure to cigarette smoke using a smoking chamber. Results: The OxyBlot analysis showed that smoking significantly increased oxidative stress, which was inhibited by lycopene at 1 nM and 10 nM (p < 0.05). In the cells exposed to smoke, lycopene increased 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (OGG1) expression at 1 nM, 10 nM, 100 nM, and 1 μM (p < 0.05), but not at 10 μM. Lycopene at lower doses also improved Nei like DNA glycosylases (NEIL1, NEIL2, NEIL3), and connexin-43 (Cx43) protein levels (p < 0.05). Interestingly, lycopene at lower concentrations promoted OGG1 expression within the cells exposed to smoke to an even greater extent than the cells not exposed to smoke (p < 0.01). This may be attributed to the increased SR-B1 mRNA levels with cigarette smoke exposure (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Lycopene treatment at a lower dosage could inhibit smoke-induced oxidative stress and promote genome stability. These novel findings will shed light on the molecular mechanism of lycopene action against lung cancer.

中文翻译：

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番茄红素通过诱导碱基切除修复来预防吸烟引起的肺癌。

背景：氧化应激在肺癌的进展中起着至关重要的作用。类胡萝卜素是有效的抗氧化剂。这项研究的目的是探讨全反式维甲酸（ATRA）和类胡萝卜素在香烟烟雾诱导的A549人肺癌上皮细胞内氧化应激中的功效。方法：将A549细胞用1-nM，10-nM，100-nM，1-μM和10-μMATRA，β-胡萝卜素（BC）和番茄红素预处理24小时，然后在吸烟室中暴露于香烟烟雾中。结果：OxyBlot分析表明，吸烟显着增加了氧化应激，番茄红素在1 nM和10 nM抑制了氧化应激（p <0.05）。在暴露于烟雾的细胞中，番茄红素在1 nM，10 nM，100 nM和1μM时增加了8-氧代鸟嘌呤DNA糖基化酶（OGG1）的表达（p<0.05），但不是10μM。较低剂量的番茄红素还改善了Nei像DNA糖基化酶（NEIL1，NEIL2，NEIL3）和连接蛋白43（Cx43）的蛋白水平（p <0.05）。有趣的是，较低浓度的番茄红素比未暴露于烟的细胞更能促进OGG1在暴露于烟的细胞内的表达（p <0.01）。这可能归因于随香烟烟雾接触而增加的SR-B1 mRNA水平（p <0.05）。结论：较低剂量的番茄红素处理可以抑制烟气引起的氧化应激并促进基因组稳定性。这些新颖的发现将阐明番茄红素对抗肺癌的分子机制。