Knockdown of peroxiredoxin V increases glutamate­induced apoptosis in HT22 hippocampal neuron cells.

ABSTRACT

High concentrations of glutamate may mediate neuronal cell apoptosis by increasing intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Peroxiredoxin V (Prx V), a member of the Prx family, serves crucial roles in protecting cells from oxidative stress. The present study investigated the regulatory effect of Prx V on glutamate­induced effects on viability and apoptosis in HT22 cells. Western blotting was used for protein expression analysis and Annexin V/PI staining and flow cytometry for determination of apoptosis. The results demonstrated that glutamate may ROS­dependently increase HT22 cell apoptosis and upregulate Prx V protein levels. Furthermore, knockdown of Prx V protein expression with a lentivirus significantly enhanced HT22 cell apoptosis mediated by glutamate, which was reversed by inhibition of ROS with N­acetyl­L­cysteine. Inhibiting the extracellular signal­regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway with PD98059, a specific inhibitor for ERK phosphorylation, markedly decreased glutamate­induced HT22 cell apoptosis in Prx V knockdown cells, indicating the potential involvement of ERK signaling in glutamate­induced HT22 cell apoptosis. In addition, an increase in nuclear apoptosis­inducing factor was observed in Prx V knockdown HT22 cells following glutamate treatment, compared with mock cells, whereas no differences in B­cell lymphoma­2 and cleaved­caspase­3 protein expression levels were observed between mock and Prx V knockdown cells. The results of the present study indicated that Prx V may have potential as a therapeutic molecular target for glutamate­induced neuronal cell death and provide novel insight into the role of Prx V in oxidative­stress induced neuronal cell death.