title: Copper induces apoptotic cell death through reactive oxygen species-triggered oxidative stress in the intertidal copepod Tigriopus japonicus.
abstract: The copepod, Tigriopus japonicus is an important model for toxicity testing. However, no attempt has been made in analyzing the effect of toxicants at the level of the ROS-mediated signal transduction pathway. To understand copper-induced cytotoxicity at the molecular level, we employed several cellular and biochemical assays after exposure to copper, and found a significant induction of enzyme activities of antioxidant proteins with increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as an increase of TUNEL-positive cells, but a decrease of BrdU-positive cells. In addition, several important genes such as p38 MAPK, antioxidant-related genes, Hsps, and apoptosis-related genes were significantly modulated by copper exposure. Taken together, we suggest that copper-induced cytotoxicity is mediated by the formation of intracellular ROS and oxidative stress in T. japonicus. Whole body biochemical assays such as TUNEL- and BrdU-assay will provide a better understanding of cellular responses such as apoptosis and cell death upon cytotoxic exposure of copper in T. japonicus.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Natural Sciences, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Sung
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.forename: In Tag
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Bo-Mi
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chang-Bum
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Kyun-Woo
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Min-Jung
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Su-Jae
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Gyung Soo
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jae-Seong
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D015153:Blotting, Western; D033342:Copepoda / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003300:Copper / Q000633:toxicity*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D056910:Republic of Korea; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D003300:Copper