Inhibition of heat stress-related apoptosis of chicken myocardial cells through inducing Hsp90 expression by aspirin administration in vivo

ABSTRACT

1. This experiment investigated the anti-apoptosis effects and the mechanism of aspirin action in the heat shock response of chicken myocardial cells in vivo, via changes in the heat stress (HS) protein Hsp90 and the rate of apoptosis. Broiler chickens were administered aspirin (1 mg/kg body weight) 2 h before exposure to HS, and then exposed to 40 ± 1°C for 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15 and 24 h.

2. The induction and consumption of the HS factor heat shock factor (HSF)-1, and reductions of HSF-2 and HSF-3 induced by HS led to a delay in Hsp90 expression. HSF-1, 2 and 3 regulation of hsp90 expression in turn inhibited the synthesis and activation of protein kinase β (Akt), which resulted in a significant increase in caspase-3 at 2 and 10 h, caspase-9 from 1 to 7 h (except at 5 h), and the heat-stressed apoptosis of the myocardial cells.

3. Administration of aspirin changed the expression patterns of HSF-1, 2 and 3 such that the expression of Hsp90 protein was significantly upregulated (by 2.3–4.1 times compared with that of the non-treated cells). The resultant increase in Akt expression and activation, compared with the HS group, inhibited caspase-3 and caspase-9 activities and reduced the myocardial cells apoptosis rate (by 2.14–2.56 times).

4. Aspirin administration could inhibit heat-stressed apoptosis of myocardial cells in vivo and may be closely associated with its promotion of HS response of chicken hearts, especially Hsp90 expression.

KEYWORDS:

• Aspirin administration
• chicken myocardial cells
• heat stress
• Hsp90 expression
• inhibition of apoptosis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31372403), the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), the Research Innovation Program of Graduate Student in Jiangsu Province (KYLX15-0536), Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Province (BK20140107), the Sino-German Agricultural Cooperation Project of the Federal Ministry of Food, the Agriculture and Consumer Production, Berlin, Germany, and the open project from Jiangsu Centre of Modern Animal Husbandry and New Veterinary Drug Engineering Technology (2014).