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Autophagy and gap junctional intercellular communication inhibition are involved in cadmium-induced apoptosis in rat liver cells.
- Source :
-
Biochemical and biophysical research communications [Biochem Biophys Res Commun] 2015 Apr 17; Vol. 459 (4), pp. 713-9. Date of Electronic Publication: 2015 Mar 14. - Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Cadmium (Cd) is known to induce hepatotoxicity, yet the underlying mechanism of how this occurs is not fully understood. In this study, Cd-induced apoptosis was demonstrated in rat liver cells (BRL 3A) with apoptotic nuclear morphological changes and a decrease in cell index (CI) in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. The role of gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) and autophagy in Cd-induced apoptosis was investigated. Cd significantly induced GJIC inhibition as well as downregulation of connexin 43 (Cx43). The prototypical gap junction blocker carbenoxolone disodium (CBX) exacerbated the Cd-induced decrease in CI. Cd treatment was also found to cause autophagy, with an increase in mRNA expression of autophagy-related genes Atg-5, Atg-7, Beclin-1, and microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) conversion from cytosolic LC3-I to membrane-bound LC3-II. The autophagic inducer rapamycin (RAP) prevented the Cd-induced CI decrease, while the autophagic inhibitor chloroquine (CQ) caused a further reduction in CI. In addition, CBX promoted Cd-induced autophagy, as well as changes in expression of Atg-5, Atg-7, Beclin-1 and LC3. CQ was found to block the Cd-induced decrease in Cx43 and GJIC inhibition, whereas RAP had opposite effect. These results demonstrate that autophagy plays a protective role during Cd-induced apoptosis in BRL 3A cells during 6 h of experiment, while autophagy exacerbates Cd-induced GJIC inhibition which has a negative effect on cellular fate.<br /> (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1090-2104
- Volume :
- 459
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Biochemical and biophysical research communications
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 25778869
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.03.027