SPATA4 Counteracts Etoposide-Induced Apoptosis via Modulating Bcl-2 Family Proteins in HeLa Cells.

Spermatogenesis associated 4 is a testis-specific gene first cloned by our laboratory, and plays an important role in maintaining the physiological function of germ cells. Accumulated evidence suggests that might be associated with apoptosis. Here we established HeLa cells that stably expressed duanyu1842TA4 to investigate the function of duanyu1842TA4 in apoptosis. duanyu1842TA4 protected HeLa cells from etoposide-induced apoptosis through the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, in the way that duanyu1842TA4 suppressed decrease of the mitochondrial membrane potential, the release of cytochrome c, and subsequent activation of caspase-9 and -3. We further demonstrated that duanyu1842TA4 upregulated anti-apoptotic members of Bcl-2 family proteins, Bcl-2, and downregulated the pro-apoptotic member of Bcl-2 family proteins, Bax. Knockdown of duanyu1842TA4 in cells could partially rescue expression levels of bcl-2 and bax. In conclusion, duanyu1842TA4 protects HeLa cells against etoposide-induced apoptosis through the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Our findings provide further evidence that duanyu1842TA4 plays a role in regulating apoptosis.

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