Glucose oxidase prevents programmed cell death of the silkworm anterior silk gland through hydrogen peroxide production.

During pupal metamorphosis, the anterior silk glands (ASGs) of the silkworm Bombyx mori degenerate through programmed cell death (PCD), which is triggered by 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E). 20E triggers the PCD of the ASGs of day 7 fifth instar (V7) larvae but not that of V5 larvae. When V7 ASGs were cocultured with V5 ASGs in the presence of 20E, neither culture of ASGs underwent PCD. The 20E-induced PCD of V7 ASGs was also inhibited when they were incubated in conditioned medium that was prepared by incubating V5 ASGs for 48 h, an indication that V5 ASGs released an inhibitor of 20E-induced PCD during incubation. The inhibitor was purified from conditioned medium and identified as glucose oxidase (GOD). GOD catalyzes the oxidation of glucose to gluconolactone, and generates hydrogen peroxide as a byproduct. We found that hydrogen peroxide is the molecule that directly inhibits the action of 20E and may act to protect the ASGs from early execution of PCD during the feeding stage. GOD was localized in the inner cavity of the gland, and was discharged to the outside of the ASGs with the silk thread at the onset of spinning. Thus, the spinning behavior, occurring at the beginning of the prepupal period, plays an important role in controlling the time at which ASGs undergo PCD in response to 20E.