Nrf2 regulates the expression of NOX1 in TNF-α-induced A549 cells

Acute lung injury causes severe inflammation and oxidative stress in lung tissues. In this study, we analyzed the potential regulatory role of nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) on NADPH oxidase 1 (NOX1) in tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-induced inflammation and oxidative stress in human type II alveolar epithelial cells. In this study, A549 cells were transfected with Nrf2 siRNA and overexpression vectors for 6 h before being induced by TNF-α for 24 h. TNF-α upregulated the expression of NOX1 and Nrf2 in A549 cells. Furthermore, overexpression of Nrf2 could reduce TNF-α-induced NF-κB mRNA and protein expression after transfection with the Nrf2 siRNA vector, and the levels of IL-6, IL-8, ROS, and malondialdehyde (MDA) in TNF-α-induced A549 cells increased, while the level of total antioxidation capability (T-AOC) decreased. On the other hand, the overexpression of Nrf2 decreased the levels of IL-6, IL-8, ROS, and MDA, while increasing T-AOC. The mRNA and protein levels of NOX1 were dramatically increased by TNF-α, while those changes were notably suppressed by Nrf2 overexpression. Further studies demonstrated that Nrf2 suppressed NOX1 transcription by binding to the -1199 to -1189 bp (ATTACACAGCA) region of the NOX1 promoter in TNF-α-stimulated A549 cells. Our study suggests that Nrf2 may bind to and regulate NOX1 expression to antagonize TNF-α-induced inflammatory reaction and oxidative stress in A549 cells.