Abarikwu Sunny O, Farombi Ebenezer O
Department of Biochemistry, University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Nigeria.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Pestic Biochem Physiol. 2015 Feb;118:90-8. doi: 10.1016/j.pestbp.2014.12.006. Epub 2014 Dec 12.
Atrazine (ATZ) is a well known herbicide that is frequently detected in ground and surface water at significant levels. Our objective was to study the toxic effect of ATZ on the human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells, and the degree of cytotoxicity and morphological changes were followed during the cell death. Application of cytotoxicity bioassays indicates that ATZ (5-50 µg/mL) decreases cell viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The evidence of apoptosis was confirmed by an increase in caspase-3 activity, and cell death was blocked when caspase-3 activity was inhibited. Typical apoptotic phenotype that includes nuclear fragmentation, micro nuclei formation, DNA fragmentation and increase in the expressions apoptosis-associated markers Bax, p53 and p21 and decreased expression of Bcl-2 were observed in treated cells. We also observed dose-dependent increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in ATZ-treated cells. These results suggest that ATZ-induces apoptosis and ROS levels in SH-SY5Y cells, and could be implicated in human neurodegenerative disorder.
莠去津（ATZ）是一种广为人知的除草剂，在地表水和地下水中经常能检测到较高含量。我们的目的是研究ATZ对人神经母细胞瘤（SH-SY5Y）细胞的毒性作用，并观察细胞死亡过程中的细胞毒性程度和形态变化。细胞毒性生物测定表明，ATZ（5-50μg/mL）以剂量和时间依赖性方式降低细胞活力。半胱天冬酶-3活性增加证实了细胞凋亡的证据，当半胱天冬酶-3活性受到抑制时，细胞死亡被阻断。在处理过的细胞中观察到典型的凋亡表型，包括核碎裂、微核形成、DNA片段化以及凋亡相关标志物Bax、p53和p21表达增加，而Bcl-2表达降低。我们还观察到ATZ处理的细胞中活性氧（ROS）水平呈剂量依赖性增加。这些结果表明，ATZ可诱导SH-SY5Y细胞凋亡和ROS水平升高，可能与人类神经退行性疾病有关。
