Impact of intracellular glyceraldehyde-derived advanced glycation end-products on human hepatocyte cell death

Hepatocyte cell death is a key feature of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH); however, the pathogenesis of NASH currently remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the effects of intracellular glyceraldehyde (GA)-derived advanced glycation end-products (GA-AGEs) on human hepatocyte cell death. The accumulation of intracellular GA-AGEs has been associated with the induction of DNA damage and hepatocyte necrotic cell death. Among intracellular GA-AGEs, caspase-3 has been identified as a GA-AGE-modified protein with abrogated protein function. Furthermore, the activation of caspase-3 and induction of hepatocyte apoptosis by camptothecin, a DNA-damaging agent, was suppressed by a treatment with GA. These results suggest the inhibitory effects of GA-AGE-modified caspase-3 on the induction of DNA-damage-induced apoptosis, which is associated with hepatocyte necrosis. Therefore, the suppression of necrosis, the inflammatory form of cell death, by the accumulation of GA-AGEs and GA-AGE-modified caspase-3 may represent a novel therapeutic target for the pathogenesis of NASH.