title: Protection effect of [Gly14]-Humanin from apoptosis induced by high glucose in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Humanin (HN) is known for its anti-apoptotic functions in neuronal cells. In this study, we sought to investigate the protective effect of [Gly14]-Humanin (HNG) in high glucose (HG)-induced apoptosis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).
  
  
  METHODS
  3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to examine cell viability, DNA chromatin morphology was assessed using Hoechst 33342 staining, and the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was assessed using the fluorescent probe dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA). The expression of poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP), the pro-apoptotic protein bax and the anti-apoptotic protein bcl-2 were examined using western blot analysis. The mRNA level of bax and bcl-2 were detected by quantitative Real-Time PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with treatment with HG 72h, pretreatment with HNG for 3h significantly increased cell viability (P<0.001), reduced nuclear fluorescence of HUVECs (P<0.05), the levels of cleaved PARP (P<0.05), ROS formation (P<0.05) and the ratio of bax/bcl-2 (P<0.05) compared with treatment with HG for 72h. Quantitative Real-Time PCR showed that mRNA level of bax reduced (P<0.05) and mRNA level of bcl-2 increased (P<0.05) after pretreatment with HNG.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results imply that HNG can protect HUVECs from apoptosis induced by HG through the bax/bcl-2 pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Hua
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Yun
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004, China.
authors.forename: Yan-de
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004, China; Institute of Neuroscience, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Xingshun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Li-Fang
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004, China.
authors.forename: Yan-Lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004, China; Institute of Neuroscience, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China. Electronic address: liucf@suda.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chun-Feng
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D005947:Glucose / Q000494:pharmacology*; D061307:Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D012313:RNA; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein; C427211:humanin; D012313:RNA; D005947:Glucose
keywords: Apoptosis; HUVECs; High glucose; Humanin