Hydrogen modulates signal transduction through manipulating oxidized phospholipid mediators

We have previously demonstrated that molecular hydrogen (H2) neutralizes hydroxyl radical (•OH) in cultured-cells and protects cells and tissues against oxidative stress. Growing evidence has confirmed that H2-consumption exhibits preventive and therapeutic effects in patients with various diseases as well as model animals. Moreover, a small amount of H2 modulates signal transduction for regulating the expression of various genes; however, the primary target of H2 for exhibiting a variety of phenotypes was completely unknown. Here we show that H2 at low amounts manipulates oxidized phospholipid mediators to modulate Ca2+-signal transduction and gene expression. Gene expression was measured at 4 hours after exposure to phospholipid, PAPC or oxidized PAPC that had been air-oxidized for 3 days with 0, 1.3 or 5% H2. Three independent experiments were performed for each experiment.