Bcl-2 inhibits ischemia-reperfusion-induced apoptosis in the intestinal epithelium of transgenic mice

Little is known about the effects of ischemia-reperfusion on the inductive, commitment, or execution phases of apoptosis. We have created a genetically defined model to study the response of small intestinal epithelial cells to ischemia-reperfusion injury as a function of their proliferative status and differentiation. Occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery for 20 min in adult FVB/N or C57BL/6 mice results in the appearance of TUNEL-positive apoptotic cells in the jejunal epithelium within 4 h, with a maximum response occurring at 24 h. Stimulation of apoptosis is greater in postmitotic, differentiated epithelial cells located in the upper portions of villi compared with undifferentiated, proliferating cells in the crypts of Lieberkuhn (7-fold vs. 2-fold relative to sham-operated controls). Comparisons of p53(+/+) and p53(-/-) mice established that the apoptosis is p53 independent. To further characterize this response, we generated FVB/N transgenic mice that express human Bcl-2 in epithelial cells distributed from the base of crypts to the tips of their associated villi. The fivefold elevation in steady-state Bcl-2 concentration is not accompanied by detectable changes in the levels or cellular distributions of the related anti-apoptotic regulator Bcl-x(L) or of the proapoptotic regulators Bar and Bak and does not produce detectable effects on basal proliferation, differentiation, or death programs. The apoptotic response to ischemia-reperfusion is reduced twofold in the crypts and villi of transgenic mice compared with their normal littermates. These results suggest that both undifferentiated and differentiated cells undergo a commitment phase that is sensitive to Bcl-2. Forced expression of Bcl-2 also suppressed the p53-dependent death that occurs in proliferating crypt epithelial cells following gamma-irradiation. Thus suppressibility by Bcl-2 operationally defines a common feature of the apoptosis induced in the crypt epithelium by these two stimuli.