Molecular mechanism of apoptosis in rat hepatic stellate cells HSC-T6 induced by TRAIL

Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) on apoptosis in cultured rat hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) HSC-T6. Methods The gene expressions of α-SMA and DR5 in HSC-T6cells were measured by semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) .The proliferation and apoptosis of HSC-T6 cells treated with TRAIL were detected by 3- (4, 5-dimethytthiazole-2-yl) -2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and flow cytometry. The Bax, Caspase3 in the HSC-T6 cell s homogenates and mitochondrion were detected by western blot. Results The gene expressions of α-SMA and DR5 in cultured rat HSC-T6cells was low in the 2nd and 4th days, increased significantly in the 8th and 12th days (P<0.05) . The proliferation of HSC-T6 cells was reduced by TRAIL.TRAIL also induced apoptosis of HSC-T6 cell s dramatically than control (P<0.05) .The mitochondrion bax and cleaved active subunits of caspase-3 were highly expressed in treated HSC-T6 cells than in the control. Conclusion TRAIL can induce apoptosis of HSC-T6 cells effectively and the high expression of DR5 and Bax may play an important role in the apoptosis.