Involment of p53, Bax, and Bcl-2 pathway in microcystins-induced apoptosis in rat testis.
It has been reported that microcystins (MCs) could accumulate in the gonads of mammals and MCs exposure exerts obvious toxic effects on male reproductive system of mammals. We have comfirmedthat MCs could accumulate and induce apoptosis in rat testis. The p53, Bax, and Bcl-2 protein play important roles in mitochondria-dependent apoptotic pathway, and this study aimed to investigate whether the p53, Bax, and Bcl-2 pathway is involved in microcystins-induced apoptosis in rat testis and discussed the possible mechanisms. Our results show that MCs led to persistent increase of transcriptional and protein level of P53 and Bax expression but led to decrease of Bcl-2 expression, resulting in an increased ratio of Bax to Bcl-2, which might contribute to apoptotic cell death of rat testis following MCs treatment. The increased ratio of expression of Bax to that of Bcl-2 induced by MCs suggests their important role in MCs-induced apoptosis in rat testis tissue.
Li
Guang-Yu
GY
Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, State Key Laboratory for Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology of China, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, People's Republic of China.
Xie
Ping
P
Li
Hui-Ying
HY
Hao
Le
L
Xiong
Qian
Q
Qiu
Tong
T
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D052998:Microcystins / Q000633:toxicity*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012098:Reproduction / Q000187:drug effects; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D013737:Testis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D052998:Microcystins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein