Role of Na(+)/H(+) exchanger 1 in apoptosis of HL-60 cells induced by etoposide and its mechanism / 中国实验血液学杂志

ABSTRACT

This study was aimed to investigate the role of Na(+)/H(+) exchanger 1 (NHE1) in apoptosis of HL-60 cells induced by etoposide. Real-time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR) and Western blot methods were used to determine the expression of NHE1 in HL-60 cells after the treatment with etoposide. Meanwhile, laser scanning confocal microscopy was used to test the intracellular pH (pHi) of HL-60 cells. Cell apoptosis was measured by DNA fragmentation and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assay. The results showed that etoposide induced cell apoptosis after treatment for 24 hours. The expression level of NHE1 mRNA increased by 2.848 +/- 0.886 times after treatment with etoposide for 12 hours (p < 0.01), and the expression of NHE1 protein was also up-regulated (p < 0.01). The pHi of HL-60 cells increased from 7.11 to 7.46 after treatment with etoposide for 24 hours. Treatment with cariporide could block etoposide-induced alkalinisation and enhance the apoptosis HL-60 cells. It is concluded that the expression of NHE1 is up-regulated in process of apoptosis of HL-60 cells induced by etoposide and the apoptosis depends on the pH increase caused by NHE1 higher expression.