Protective effects of sodium butyrate on rotavirus inducing endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated apoptosis via PERK-eIF2α signaling pathway in IPEC-J2 cells

Background: Rotavirus (RV) is a major pathogen that causes severe gastroenteritis in infants and young animals. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and subsequent apoptosis play pivotal role in virus infection. However, the protective mechanisms of intestinal damage caused by RV are poorly defined, especially the molecular pathways related to enterocytes apoptosis. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect and mechanism of sodium butyrate (SB) on RV-induced apoptosis of IPEC-J2 cells. Results: The RV infection led to significant cell apoptosis, increased the expression levels of ER stress (ERS) markers, phosphorylated protein kinase-like ER kinase (PERK), eukaryotic initiation factor 2 alpha (Protective effects of sodium butyrate on rotavirus inducing endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated apoptosis via PERK-eIF2 alpha signaling pathway in IPEC-J2 cells), caspase9, and caspase3. Blocking PERK pathway using specific inhibitor GSK subsequently reversed RV-induced cell apoptosis. The SB treatment significantly inhibited RV-induced ERS by decreasing the expression of glucose regulated protein 78 (GRP78), PERK, and eIF2 alpha. In addition, SB treatment restrained the ERS-mediated apoptotic pathway, as indicated by downregulation of C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) mRNA level, as well as decreased cleaved caspase9 and caspase3 protein levels. Furthermore, siRNA-induced GPR109a knockdown significantly suppressed the protective effect of SB on RV-induced cell apoptosis. Conclusions: These results indicate that SB exerts protective effects against RV-induced cell apoptosis through inhibiting ERS mediated apoptosis by regulating PERK-eIF2 alpha signaling pathway via GPR109a, which provide new ideas for the prevention and control of RV.