The purpose of this study was to determine, whether previously reported ethanol-induced alterations to the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER), predispose Purkinje neurons (PN) to thapsigargin-induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Thapsigargin blocks the sarco/endoplasmic Ca(2+) ATPase pump (SERCA 2), depleting the SER of calcium. Forty-one, eight month old Fischer 344 male rats were treate...

Glucose-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production initiates podocyte apoptosis, which represents a novel early mechanism leading to diabetic nephropathy (DN). Here, we tested the hypothesis that Astragaloside IV(AS-IV) exerts antioxidant and antiapoptotic effects on podocytes under diabetic conditions. Apoptosis, albuminuria, ROS generation, caspase-3 activity and cleavage, as well as Ba...

Recent studies point out at the role of apoptosis disturbances in the development of systemic sclerosis(SSc). The aim of our study was to examine caspase 1 and sFas serum levels in scleroderma patients and correlate the obtained results with skin involvement and internal organ changes. We studied 29 patients (14 with limited and 15 with diffuse SSc). The extension of skin involvement was measur...

OBJECTIVES We hypothesized that redox-mediated apoptosis of medial smooth muscle cells (SMC) during the acute phase of vascular injury contributes to the pathophysiology of vascular disease. METHODS Apoptosis of medial SMC (1-14 days following balloon injury) was identified in rat carotid arteries by in situ DNA labeling. NADPH-derived superoxide and expression of Bcl-xL, Bax, caspase-3 and c...

Recently we have shown that the majority of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) dies via activation of caspase-3 after transection of the optic nerve (ON) in the adult rat. In the present study we investigated whether insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), an important factor in retinal development, prevents secondary death of RGCs after axotomy. Moreover, we studied potential intracellular mechanisms...

Sulforaphane (SFN), a constituent of cruciferous vegetables, is highly effective in affording protection against chemically induced cancers in animal models. Here, we report that SFN inhibited proliferation of cultured PC-3 human prostate cancer cells by inducing apoptosis that was characterized by appearance of cells with sub-G0/G1 DNA content, formation of cytoplasmic histone associated DNA f...

organotypic spinal cord slices from neonatal mammals could be a powerful model for evaluation of cell survival but also cell death mechanisms. the aim of this study was to establish an in vitro model for investigating cell survival and mechanism involved in cell death in neonatal spinal cord slices. the spinal cord was sliced and incubated into culture medium. the mtt assay was carried out to a...

Natural cell death by apoptosis was studied in two neuronal populations of BALB/c, C57BL/6 and B6CBA-Aw-j/A hybrid stock mice: (I) dopaminergic (DA) neurons in choosing coronal levels throughout the anteroposterior extent of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc), and (II) Purkinje cells (PCs) in each vermal lobe of the cerebellar cortex. Mice were collected at postnatal day (P) 2 and P14 for...

BACKGROUND Mononuclear cells from patients dialysed with cellulosic membranes undergo rapid apoptosis in vitro. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the apoptosis associated with cellulosic haemodialysis membrane shares similar features with the spontaneous apoptosis described in normal monocytes. Thus, we determined whether apoptosis is dependent on caspase-3 activity and is i...

This study aims to explore the potential pathways and molecular characteristics of fluorine-induced osteoblast apoptosis. In vitro fluorine-induced model was established with an osteogenesis sarcoma cell line Saos-2. Then flow cytometry was used to determine the mitochondrial membrane potential at 24 h after the intervention. 84 apoptosis-related genes in the cells were determined using the fun...