Pro- and antiapoptotic proteins regulate apoptosis but do not protect against cytokine-mediated cytotoxicity in rat islets and beta-cell lines.
Type 1 diabetes results from islet beta-cell death and dysfunction induced by an autoimmune mechanism. Proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1beta and gamma-interferon are mediators of this beta-cell cytotoxicity, but the mechanism by which damage occurs is not well understood. In the current study, we present multiple lines of evidence supporting the conclusion that cytokine-induced killing of rat beta-cells occurs predominantly by a nonapoptotic mechanism, including the following: 1) A rat beta-cell line selected for resistance to cytokine-induced cytotoxicity (833/15) is equally sensitive to killing by the apoptosis-inducing agents camptothecin and etoposide as a cytokine-sensitive cell line (832/13). 2) Overexpression of a constitutively active form of the antiapoptotic protein kinase Akt1 in 832/13 cells provides significant protection against cell killing induced by camptothecin and etoposide but no protection against cytokine-mediated damage. 3) Small interfering RNA-mediated suppression of the proapoptotic protein Bax enhances viability of 832/13 cells upon exposure to the known apoptosis-inducing drugs but not the inflammatory cytokines. 4) Exposure of primary rat islets or 832/13 cells to the inflammatory cytokines causes cell death as evidenced by the release of adenylate kinase activity into the cell medium, with no attendant increase in caspase 3 activation or annexin V staining. In contrast, camptothecin- and etoposide-induced killing is associated with robust increases in caspase 3 activation and annexin V staining. 5) Camptothecin increases cellular ATP levels, whereas inflammatory cytokines lower ATP levels in both beta-cell lines and primary islets. We conclude that proinflammatory cytokines cause beta-cell cytotoxicity primarily through a nonapoptotic mechanism linked to a decline in ATP levels.
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- bcl-2-Associated X Protein
- bcl-2 Homologous Antagonist-Killer Protein
- Transfection
- Rats
- RNA, Small Interfering
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
- Islets of Langerhans
- Interleukin-1
- Interferon-gamma
- Gene Expression Regulation
Citation
Published In
DOI
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- bcl-2-Associated X Protein
- bcl-2 Homologous Antagonist-Killer Protein
- Transfection
- Rats
- RNA, Small Interfering
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
- Islets of Langerhans
- Interleukin-1
- Interferon-gamma
- Gene Expression Regulation