title: Inhibition of Hepatocyte Apoptosis: An Important Mechanism of Corn Peptides Attenuating Liver Injury Induced by Ethanol.
abstract: In this study, the effects of mixed corn peptides and synthetic pentapeptide (QLLPF) on hepatocyte apoptosis induced by ethanol were investigated in vivo. QLLPF, was previously characterized from corn protein hydrolysis, which had been shown to exert good facilitating alcohol metabolism activity. Mice were pre-treated with the mixed corn peptides and the pentapeptide for 1 week and then treated with ethanol. After treatment of three weeks, the biochemical indices and the key ethanol metabolizing enzymes, the serum TNF-α, liver TGF-β1 concentrations and the protein expressions related to apoptosis were determined. We found that the Bcl-2, Bax and cytochrome c expressions in the intrinsic pathway and the Fas, FasL and NF-κB expressions in the extrinsic pathway together with higher TNF-α and TGF-β1 concentrations were reversed compared with the model group by both the mixed corn peptides and the pentapeptide. The activation of caspase3 was also suppressed. Additionally, apoptosis was further confirmed with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) and the TUNEL assay demonstrated peptides suppressed hepatocyte apoptosis. Our results suggest that apoptosis induced by ethanol is alleviated in response to the treatment of corn peptides, potentially due to reversing the related protein expression.
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University & Key Laboratory of Environment Correlative Dietology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430070, China. mazhili@webmail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhili
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University & Key Laboratory of Environment Correlative Dietology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430070, China. mrhoutao@webmail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University & Key Laboratory of Environment Correlative Dietology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430070, China. trshiwenqqq@163.com.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University & Key Laboratory of Environment Correlative Dietology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430070, China. liuweiweifly@sina.com.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University & Key Laboratory of Environment Correlative Dietology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430070, China. hehui@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction / Q000187:drug effects; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D003313:Zea mays / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D010455:Peptides; D010936:Plant Extracts; D000431:Ethanol; D053148:Caspase 3
keywords: apoptosis; corn peptides (CPs); ethanol; pentapeptide