Sequestration of Acrylamide as Amino Acid-Acrylamide adducts mitigates cellular stress in human gastrointestinal cell lines

Abstract

Acrylamide (ACR) is a global health concern in starchy and cereal-based heat-processed foods. While amino acids (AA) have been suggested as effective scavengers of acrylamide, there is a dearth of information about the cellular response towards amino acid-acrylamide (AA-ACR) adducts. In this work, we have conducted a detailed comparison of the effects of ACR versus AA-ACR adducts towards two human gastrointestinal cell lines Caco-2 and HCT-15. Adducts of Lysine, Glycine, Cysteine, and Methionine, with ACR, have been prepared via optimised reaction conditions and characterized by a combination of ESI-MS and MS/MS. Exposure of Caco-2 and HCT-15 to these adducts is accompanied by significant reduction in formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and prevention of abnormal accumulation of the cells in G1 phase. Measurement of apoptosis and necrosis in the cell lines treated with AA-ACR clearly indicate the ability of the AAs to sequester ACR and block oxidative stress-induction that would otherwise be observed, completely precluding apoptosis and necrosis. The sequestration of ACR by each of the four AAs prevents the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and the induction of autophagy, that would otherwise be affected upon exposure to ACR. The hitherto untested behaviour of human gastrointestinal cells towards AA-ACR presented in this work supports the application of AA for the mitigation of ACR in foods.