Induction of apoptosis in chicken oviduct cells by C2-ceramide.
The chicken oviduct is a dynamic organ that produces secretory proteins such as ovalbumin and its cells undergo cell proliferation and differentiation. There has been no study of the cellular mechanism involved in cell death in the chicken oviduct. Therefore, this study has focused on the study of apoptosis in primary oviduct cells. Because ceramide is known to activate apoptosis in tumor cells and is produced in the oviduct, we used an exogenous ceramide analog to induce cell death. The viability of ceramide-treated chicken oviduct cells decreased in a dose-dependent manner and apoptotic cells were detected by staining with annexin V. The expression of apoptosis-related genes was assessed by RT-PCR and bcl-2 mRNA was found to decrease after exposure to ceramide while Bcl-x mRNA increased 12 h post-treatment. In addition, caspase-3 was expressed strongly in the early stages of apoptosis, while caspase-1 and -9 transcripts increased at later times. We conclude that ceramide induces apoptosis in oviduct-derived primary cells via a caspase- and bcl-2- dependent pathway.
Kim
Sung Hak
SH
Department of Biology, College of Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Korea. shkim@khu.ac.kr
Choi
Ji Young
JY
Sihn
Choon-Ryoul
CR
Suh
Eun Jung
EJ
Kim
Sun Young
SY
Choi
Kang Duk
KD
Jeon
Iksoo
I
Han
Jae Yong
JY
Kim
Tae-Yoon
TY
Kim
Sang Hoon
SH
D000818:Animals; D017304:Annexin A5 / Q000378:metabolism; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D002645:Chickens; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D010057:Oviducts / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013110:Sphingosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D051020:bcl-X Protein
D017304:Annexin A5; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; C064769:N-acetylsphingosine; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051020:bcl-X Protein; D020169:Caspases; D013110:Sphingosine