Acrylonitrile induced apoptosis via oxidative stress in neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell

Acrylonitrile (ACN) is a chemical that is widely used in the production of plastics, acrylic fibers, synthetic rubbers and resins It has been reported that ACN can cause oxidative stress, a condition which is well recognized as an apoptotic initiator, however, information regarding ACN-induced apoptosis is limited This present study investigated whether ACN induces apoptosis in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, and whether its apoptotic induction involves oxidative stress The results showed that ACN caused activation of caspase-3, a key enzyme involved in apoptosis, in a dose- and time-dependent manner Detection of sub-G1 apoptotic cell death and apoptotic nuclear condensation revealed that ACN caused an increase in the number of apoptotic cells indicating ACN induces apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells ACN dose- and time-dependently increased the level of proapoptotic protein, Bax Pretreatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant, attenuated caspase-3 activation by ACN, as evidenced by a reduction in proteolysis of PARP, a known caspase-3 substrate, as well as in the number of sub-G1 apoptotic cells Moreover, induction of Bax by ACN was abolished by NAC Taken together, the results indicate that ACN induces apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells via a mechanism involving generation of oxidative stress-mediated Bax induction Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd