Nitric oxide induces apoptosis in mouse splenic T lymphocytes.
The cytotoxic effect of nitric oxide (NO) on mouse T lymphocytes was investigated. Freshly isolated T lymphocytes from mouse spleen were incubated with NOR, a novel NO releasing agent, at different doses. After incubation for 4 h, apoptotic cell death was observed in both NOR-treated T lymphocytes and controls as judged by the appearance of DNA laddering in agarose gel electrophoresis, but a quantitative analysis by flow cytometry indicated that the high level of exogenous NO (500 micrograms ml of NOR) could promote apoptosis in T lymphocytes as compared with controls (30% vs. 8%). After 8 h, NO promoted apoptosis of T lymphocytes in a dose-dependent manner. This study indicated that NO might be one of the factors which regulate this life of T lymphocytes in vivo.
Department of Neurology, Osaka University Medical School, Osaka, Japan.
Y
Y
Okuda
S
S
Sakoda
M
M
Shimaoka
T
T
Yanagihara
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000502:physiology; D011725:Pyridines / Q000494:pharmacology; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
C102260:NOR 4; D011725:Pyridines; D009569:Nitric Oxide