title: Knockdown of 15-kDa selenoprotein (Sep15) increases hLE cells' susceptibility to tunicamycin-induced apoptosis.
abstract: In this work, we investigated the effect of Sep15 gene knockdown on apoptosis in human lens epithelial (hLE) cells, trying to understand the relevance of Sep15 to cataract formation in the Sep15 knockout (KO) mice. The results showed that sole knockdown of Sep15 by RNA interference did not result in apoptosis; however, reduction of Sep15 expression aggravated tunicamycin (Tm)-induced cell apoptosis and caspases activation. Furthermore, Tm-induced mitochondrial dysfunction was also exacerbated under the Sep15 knockdown condition by measurement of mitochondrial membrane potential decrease and human cytochrome c release into cytosol. Interestingly, the knockdown of Sep15 exacerbated Tm-induced oxidative stress while endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress was not correspondingly elevated. These results suggest that the protective role of Sep15 against Tm-induced apoptosis in hLE cells is operated via inhibiting oxidative stress rather than regulating Tm-induced ER stress, and the protective role becomes dependent on Sep15 only in acute stress condition.
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic Chemistry and Materia Medica, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Hongshan, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic Chemistry and Materia Medica, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Hongshan, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic Chemistry and Materia Medica, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Hongshan, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic Chemistry and Materia Medica, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Hongshan, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hongmei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic Chemistry and Materia Medica, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Hongshan, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, People's Republic of China. hxxzrf@mail.hust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Kaixun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002460:Cell Line; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000187:drug effects*; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D006801:Humans; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D051140:Selenoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014415:Tunicamycin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D051140:Selenoproteins; D014415:Tunicamycin
keywords: Apoptosis; Endoplasmic reticulum stress; Human lens epithelial cells; Oxidative stress; Sep15