Study hydroxyl-radical-scavenging mechanism of human erythrocytes induced by Germanium (Ⅳ)-Quercetin complex

摘要

Germanium (Ⅳ) complexes with quercetin QuGe_2 have been first synthesized. It is known to protect the erythrocytes suffering from oxidative stress in our previous work. However, there is little data about the mechanisms of QuGe_2-induced beneficial antioxidative actions. In the present study, QuGe_2 could significantly scavenge intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) which was induced by hydroxyl radical. Changes of oxidative stress included decrease in adhesion force and Young's modulus, increase in shrinkage and the fluctuation of surface components, and even the appearance of holes. However, when erythrocytes were exposed to a certain concentration of QuGe_2, the changes were attenuated distinctly. Furthermore, flow cytometric analysis also revealed that treatment with QuGe_2 resulted in decreasing plasma membrane potential depolarization and intracellular Ca~(2+) concentration, which was elevated by hydroxyl.