Interleukin-1 beta suppresses apoptosis in rat ovarian follicles by increasing nitric oxide production
Abstract
A growing body of evidence suggests that intraovarian interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) may play an intermediary role in the ovulatory process. Furthermore, induction of nitric oxide (NO) by IL-1 beta has been reported in a wide variety of tissues. As the majority of ovarian follicles undergo an atretic degeneration process involving apoptotic cell death, we set out to determine whether IL-1 beta rescues follicles from apoptosis and the possible involvement of NO. Preovulatory follicles obtained from PMSG-primed rats were cultured for 24 h in serum-free medium with or without hormone treatments. After culture, follicular apoptotic DNA fragmentation was analyzed by autoradiography of size-fractionated DNA labeled at 3'-ends with [32P]dideoxy-ATP. Follicular NO production was also determined by a colorimetric method. Treatment with IL-1 beta dose-dependently suppressed the spontaneous onset of apoptosis in cultured follicles, but stimulated NO production. In contrast, the addition of IL-1 receptor antagonist eliminated both effects of IL-1 beta, confirming receptor mediation. Follicles treated with sodium nitroprusside, a NO generator or an analog of cGMP, the second messenger for NO, also showed decreased follicle apoptosis. Moreov...Continue Reading
Citations
Protective role of nuclear factor kappa B against nitric oxide-induced apoptosis in J774 macrophages
Nitric oxide is essential for optimal meiotic maturation of murine cumulus-oocyte complexes in vitro
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Apoptosis
Apoptosis is a specific process that leads to programmed cell death through the activation of an evolutionary conserved intracellular pathway leading to pathognomic cellular changes distinct from cellular necrosis