Exploration of Bcl-2 family and caspases-dependent apoptotic signaling pathway in Zearalenone-treated mouse endometrial stromal cells.
Zearalenone (ZEA) is a nonsteroidal estrogenic mycotoxin found in several food commodities worldwide. Although the toxicity of ZEA have been widely studied in a number of cell types, the mechanistic role of ZEA on apoptosis of endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) remains poorly understood. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of ZEA on apoptosis of mouse ESCs and explore the signaling pathway underlying the cytotoxicity of ZEA. The results showed that ZEA treatment caused obvious apoptosis in ESCs as determined by the flow cytometry and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Immunoblotting and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) revealed that ZEA treatment increased the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2. The enzymatic activity assays revealed that caspases-3 and caspase-9 were activated by ZEA treatment in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, flow cytometry show that the apoptotic percentages of cells pretreated with Z-VAD-FMK and Z-LEHD-FMK were markedly reduced compared to the ZEA-treated cells. Overall, the results suggested that ZEA induced obvious apoptosis in ESCs via a Bcl-2 family and caspases-dependent signaling pathway.
College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
Jin
J
Hu
College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
Minglong
M
Xu
College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
Yujian
Y
Dai
College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
Xiaolin
X
Ding
College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
Cheng
C
Xiao
College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China.
Hongjun
H
Ji
College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China. Electronic address: xuyinxue@njau.edu.cn.
Yinxue
Y
Xu
D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D053453:Caspase 9 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D061945:Caspase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D020169:Caspases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004717:Endometrium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D004968:Estrogens, Non-Steroidal / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000494:pharmacology; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015025:Zearalenone / Q000633:toxicity*; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones; C494827:Bax protein, mouse; D061945:Caspase Inhibitors; D004968:Estrogens, Non-Steroidal; D009842:Oligopeptides; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein; C403754:benzyloxycarbonyl-leucyl-glutamyl-histidyl-aspartic acid fluoromethyl ketone; C096713:benzyloxycarbonylvalyl-alanyl-aspartyl fluoromethyl ketone; C052617:Bcl2 protein, mouse; D015025:Zearalenone; C505409:Casp3 protein, mouse; C506434:Casp9 protein, mouse; D053148:Caspase 3; D053453:Caspase 9; D020169:Caspases
Apoptosis; Cytotoxicity; Endometrial stromal cells; Mouse; Signaling pathway; ZEA