Role of endoplasmic reticulum in aluminium-induced apoptosis

Objective To study the role of endoplasmetic reticulum in aluminium-induced apoptosis.Methods Neurons from 0-3 day newborn rats were cultured and treated with different concentration of aluminium chloride(AlCl_3).(1)Morphologic changes of neurons and endoplasmic reticulum were observed under light and transmission electron microscope;(2)Contents of apoptosis proteins,caspase and Ctyc in endoplasmic reticulum were measured.Results(1)Typical morphologic changes in neurons apoptosis and endoplamic reticulum were found under light and transmission electron microscope;(2)Active caspase-3 contents were significantly increased in Al-treated groups comparing with the control group(P0.01,r=0.902).There were significant higher CtyC contents in control group than those in Al-treated groups(P0.05).Conclusion Al may induce neurons apoptosis,and endoplasmic reticulum plays an important role in the apoptosis progression.