ABSTRACT
Aim To investigate the expression and im-plication of HIF-1α, ROCK-2 , FoxM1 in PC12 cell in-jury induced by lead acetate. Methods PC12 cells were treated with lead acetate at the doses of 100 , 200 and 400 μmol·L-1 . The cell viability was determined by MTT reduction assay and LDH assay, the intracellu-lar production of oxygen species was measured by as-sessing SOD and MDA levels, cell apoptosis was deter-mined by Hoechst 33342 staining, the expressions of HIF-1α, ROCK-2 , FoxM1 , Bcl-2 and Bax were deter-mined by immunoblotting analysis. Results Lead ac-etate induced cell injury in PC12 cells in a dose-de-pendent manner, and it potentiated oxygen radical pro-duction and cell apoptosis. In addition, lead acetate enhanced HIF-1α and ROCK-2 expressions, increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and decreased FoxM1 expression. Conclusion Lead acetate can induce PC12 cell apop-tosis, which may be related with the expressions of HIF-1α, ROCK-2 and FoxM1 . Cellular oxidative stress may contribute to the injury as well.