Promotion of cathepsin L activity in newt spermatogonial apoptosis induced by prolactin

FEBS Letters

Kitano, Takeshi²  Fujimoto, Kenta²  Abé, Shin-Ichi²  Yamamoto, Takashi¹ 

[1] Department of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, Kumamoto University, Kurokami 2-39-1, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan;Department of Materials and Life Science, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, Kurokami 2-39-1, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan

关键词: Cathepsin;    Prolactin;    Apoptosis;    Spermatogenesis;    Newt;   

DOI  :  10.1016/S0014-5793(02)02817-X

学科分类：生物化学/生物物理

来源: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

【 摘 要 】

We previously showed that prolactin (PRL) induces apoptosis in newt secondary spermatogonia and indicated that caspase activity is involved in the apoptosis. Since it was recently reported that Z-VAD-fmk, a pan-caspase inhibitor, blocks activity of cysteine cathepsins as well, we examined whether cathepsin is involved in the newt spermatogonial apoptosis. We found cathepsin L activity in the testis that was elevated by PRL in organ culture of testis, while E-64d, a lysosomal cysteine protease inhibitor, and Z-VAD-fmk suppressed it and chromosomal condensation. These results suggest that cathepsin L activity play a pivotal role in PRL-induced spermatogonial apoptosis.

【 授权许可】

Unknown