Xu Jin, Xin Shuqin, Li Hui, Liu Lin, Xia Weiyi, Li Pingfeng, Liu Xinhua, Li Gang
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100083, China.
Cell Biol Int. 2006 Feb;30(2):114-21. doi: 10.1016/j.cellbi.2005.08.011. Epub 2006 Feb 7.
The roles of methionine enkephalin, as an immunomodulator, on immunodeficiency virus-induced apoptosis of lymphocytes during prolonged infection are still unclear. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of methionine enkephalin on the viability, the profile of cell cycle and apoptosis, as well as the expression of apoptosis-related genes in CEM x 174 cells infected with simian immunodeficiency virus for 72 h. Our data demonstrated that methionine enkephalin maintains the viability of cells during the period of prolonged infection. Following co-incubation with the virus, CEM x 174 cells were arrested at S phase, with increased mortality as a result of apoptosis. Methionine enkephalin could abolish virus-induced over-expression of caspase-3. Taken together all findings, we conclude that methionine enkephalin may maintain the viability of SIV-infected cells via suppressing the expression of caspase-3, which may have clinical implications in opioid peptide therapy for AIDS.
甲硫氨酸脑啡肽作为一种免疫调节剂，在长期感染期间对免疫缺陷病毒诱导的淋巴细胞凋亡的作用仍不清楚。在本研究中，我们评估了甲硫氨酸脑啡肽对感染猿猴免疫缺陷病毒72小时的CEM x 174细胞的活力、细胞周期和凋亡情况以及凋亡相关基因表达的影响。我们的数据表明，甲硫氨酸脑啡肽在长期感染期间维持细胞的活力。与病毒共同孵育后，CEM x 174细胞停滞在S期，由于凋亡导致死亡率增加。甲硫氨酸脑啡肽可以消除病毒诱导的半胱天冬酶-3的过度表达。综合所有研究结果，我们得出结论，甲硫氨酸脑啡肽可能通过抑制半胱天冬酶-3的表达来维持感染SIV细胞的活力，这可能对艾滋病的阿片肽治疗具有临床意义。
