Angiotensin II type 1 receptor autoantibodies induces INS-1 islet β-cell apoptosis by upregulation of autophagy / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM:To explore whether the angiotensin II type 1 receptor autoantibodies(AT1-AA)induces islet β-cell apoptosis and whether autophagy is involved in the process.METHODS:The INS-1 cells treated with AT1-AA at 10-6mol/L for 24 h,and then the apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry,Western blot and Hoechst 33258 staining.In addition,the expression of autophagy-related proteins such as LC3 and beclin 1 were determined by Western blot.The effects of AT1-AA on the apoptosis,autophagy and viability of INS-1 cells with or without 3-methyladenine(3-MA;a com-mon autophagy inhibitor)or telmisartan(an angiotensin Ⅱ type 1 receptor blocker)pretreatment, were detected by flow cytometry,Western blot and CCK-8 assay.RESULTS: Treatment with AT1-AA at 10 -6mol/L for 24 h significantly re-duced the cell viability(P<0.05).Compared with the negative IgG control group,the apoptotic cells increased after incu-bation with AT1-AA for 12 h,24 h and 36 h,respectively(P<0.05).Moreover,the protein levels of LC3 and beclin 1 also increased gradually with the prolongation of treatment time,and the elevation of apoptosis and autophagy were blocked by telmisartan.After pretreatment with 3-MA, the apoptotic rate of the cells was obviously decreased compared with the cells treated with AT1-AA alone.CONCLUSION: AT1-AA induces the apoptosis of INS-1 islet βcells by upregulating autophagy via the angiotensin Ⅱtype 1 receptor pathway.

Activation of caspase-12 at early stage contributes to cardiomyocyte apoptosis in trauma-induced secondary cardiac injury / 生理学报

Trauma-induced secondary cardiac injury (TISCI) is associated with increased adverse cardiac events and death. We have previously reported that TISCI results in myocardial apoptosis and secondary cardiac dysfunction. However, the underlying mechanism is unclear. To identify the time course of trauma-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and possible apoptotic pathway, traumatic rat models were built with Noble-Collip drum. Meanwhile, normal rat cardiomyocytes were cultured with traumatic plasma (TP) for 48 h. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis, cardiac function and the apoptosis related enzymes, including caspase-3, -8, -9, and -12, were determined. The results showed that there was no direct injury of rat hearts immediately after trauma. However, compared with hearts from the sham rats, hearts isolated from traumatic rats exhibited reduced +dP/dTand -dP/dT24 h after trauma. In traumatic rats, myocardial apoptotic index and caspase-3 activity obviously increased 6 h after trauma, and achieved the maximal value 12 h after trauma. The activity and expression of caspase-12, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-specific caspase, elevated markedly 3 h after trauma and reached its peak 6 h after trauma. Otherwise, caspase-8 (extrinsic apoptotic pathway) and caspase-9 (intrinsic apoptotic pathway) in the myocardial tissue of traumatic rats were activated 24 h after trauma. Meanwhile, incubation of normal rat cardiomyocytes with TP increased caspase-12 activity at 6 h, caspase-3 activity at 12 h, caspase-8 and -9 activities at 24 h, respectively. TP-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis was virtually abolished by Z-ATAD-FMK (a caspase-12 specific inhibitor). In addition, there was a significant negative correlation between myocardial caspase-12 activity and trauma-induced secondary cardiac dysfunction. Our present study demonstrated that caspase-12 is firstly activated and plays an important role in TISCI rats. Inhibition of caspase-12 mediated apoptosis may be a novel strategy in ameliorating posttraumatic cardiomyocyte apoptosis and secondary cardiac injury.