[A study on apoptosis and activity of SAPK/JNK in adrenocortical cells induced by cadmium chloride].
OBJECTIVE
To study apoptosis induced by cadmium chloride and the alteration in activity of stress activated protein kinase (SAPK) in adrenocortical cells.


METHODS
Fasciculata-glomerulosa (FG) cells of male guinea pigs were dispersed and primarily cultured in vitro. Features of apoptotic cells were observed using combined labeling with annexin-V and propidium iodide (PI) and flow cytometry, and activity of SAPK was determined with immunoprecipitation and chemiluminescence assay.


RESULTS
Apoptosis rate of FG cells increased with dose of cadmium chloride (CdCl(2)) two hours after treatment with 6.25 - 200.00 micromol/L of it. The average percentages of apoptotic cells ranged from 9.90% to 82.35%, with significant difference in the groups treated with 25, 50, 100 and 200 micromol/L of CdCl(2), as compared with the control group (P < 0.01). Regression analysis showed that occurrence of apoptosis correlated with the dose of cadmium chloride in a dose-response pattern. In the meanwhile, there were obviously elevated percentages of apoptotic cells as the increase in duration of incubation, ranging from 5.58% to 73.08% for incubating cells with 50.00 micromol/L of CdCl(2), from 15 minutes to four hours. Duration of incubating cells with cadmium chloride correlated to occurrence of apoptosis in a time-effect manner. There were no remarkable changes in the activity of SAPK in adrenocortical cells two hours after incubation with 25.00 - 100.00 micromol/L of CdCl(2).


CONCLUSIONS
Apoptosis can be induced by cadmium chloride in adrenocortical cells and its mechanism should be studied further.
Zhao
M
M
School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 510080, China.
Yang
X
X
Wei
Q
Q
Chen
W
W
Lu
C
C
Chen
T
T
D000302:Adrenal Cortex / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D019256:Cadmium Chloride / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*
D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D019256:Cadmium Chloride