Altered expression of p53, Bcl-2 and Bax induced by microcystin-LR in vivo and in vitro

It has been reported that MC-LR could induce apoptosis in a variety of cell types. Although the induction of oxidative stress and mitochondrial alteration played critical role in MC-LR induced apoptosis, but the exact mechanisms of MC-LR induced apoptosis are still unknown. In spite of extensive studies on MC-LR mediated cell damages, there is little information on the protein expression of p53 and Bcl-2, Bax in vivo and in vitro, which are vital regulator of apoptosis in response to a variety of stimuli. The present study was undertaken to determine the expression level of p53 and Bcl-2, Bax in cultured hepatocytes and rat liver tissues. The results show that MC-LR can increase the expression of p53 and Bax significantly both in vivo and in vitro, however, MC-LR can only decrease the expression of Bcl-2 significantly in vitro and there is no difference observed in vivo. It can be concluded that the expression of p53, Bcl-2 and Bax are involved in the regulation of MC-LR induced apoptosis.