In situ end labeling of fragmented DNA in induced ovarian atresia

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 573-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina D'herde ◽  
Guido De Pestel ◽  
Frank Roels

Apoptosis is studied in a model of induced follicular atresia in the ovary of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) by in situ end labeling of DNA fragments in granulosa cells using two different techniques (incorporation of labeled nucleotides by DNA polymerase I or terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase). The most remarkable observation related to apoptosis in this model is the predominant cytoplasmic localization of labeled DNA fragments, while DNA fragmentation appears to be absent from compacted chromatin masses of apoptotic nuclei and apoptotic nuclear fragments. Unstained apoptotic bodies are present adjacent to stained ones, so that their detection rate on hematoxylin + eosin stained sections is better than on the in situ end-labeled sections. This suggests that DNA fragmentation is a late event or not obligatory in apoptotic granulosa cell death. In contrast to similar studies on atretic granulosa in mammalian models, the process of apoptosis is asynchronous in the granulosal epithelium, with a majority of nuclei with normal chromatin configuration remaining negative for DNA fragmentation. Finally it is shown that the techniques used are not specific for apoptosis, as DNA fragmentation in necrotic granulosa cells is detected as well.Key words: programmed cell death, apoptosis, in situ DNA end labeling, endonuclease, necrosis.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 412
Author(s):  
Christopher L. Moore ◽  
Alena V. Savenka ◽  
Alexei G. Basnakian

Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay is a long-established assay used to detect cell death-associated DNA fragmentation (3’-OH DNA termini) by endonucleases. Because these enzymes are particularly active in the kidney, TUNEL is widely used to identify and quantify DNA fragmentation and cell death in cultured kidney cells and animal and human kidneys resulting from toxic or hypoxic injury. The early characterization of TUNEL as an apoptotic assay has led to numerous misinterpretations of the mechanisms of kidney cell injury. Nevertheless, TUNEL is becoming increasingly popular for kidney injury assessment because it can be used universally in cultured and tissue cells and for all mechanisms of cell death. Furthermore, it is sensitive, accurate, quantitative, easily linked to particular cells or tissue compartments, and can be combined with immunohistochemistry to allow reliable identification of cell types or likely mechanisms of cell death. Traditionally, TUNEL analysis has been limited to the presence or absence of a TUNEL signal. However, additional information on the mechanism of cell death can be obtained from the analysis of TUNEL patterns.


1997 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
pp. 240-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Hausmann ◽  
A. Nerlich ◽  
J. T�bel ◽  
P. Betz ◽  
I. Wiest

1998 ◽  
Vol 275 (6) ◽  
pp. F962-F971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eckhard Schulze-Lohoff ◽  
Christian Hugo ◽  
Sylvia Rost ◽  
Susanne Arnold ◽  
Angela Gruber ◽  
...  

Mesangial cells undergo cell death both by apoptosis and necrosis during glomerular disease. Since nucleotides are released from injured and destroyed cells in the glomerulus, we examined whether extracellular ATP and its receptors may regulate cell death of cultured mesangial cells. Addition of extracellular ATP (300 μM to 5 mM) to cultured rat mesangial cells for 90 min caused a 5.8-fold increase in DNA fragmentation (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase assay) and a 4.2-fold increase in protein levels of the tumor suppressor p53, which is thought to regulate apoptosis. Apoptotic DNA fragmentation was confirmed by the diphenylamine assay and by staining with the DNA-specific fluorochrome Hoechst 33258. The necrotic markers, release of lactate dehydrogenase and uptake of trypan blue, were not positive before 3 h of ATP addition. The effects of ATP on DNA fragmentation and p53 expression were reproduced by the purinergic P2Z/P2X7 receptor agonist, 3′- O-(4-benzoylbenzoyl)-ATP, and inhibited by the P2Z/P2X7 receptor blocker, oxidized ATP. Transcripts encoding the P2Z/P2X7 receptor were expressed by cultured mesangial cells as determined by Northern blot analysis. P2Z/P2X7 receptor-associated pore formation in the plasma membrane was demonstrated by the Lucifer yellow assay. We conclude that activation of P2Z/P2X7 receptors by extracellular ATP causes apoptosis and necrosis of cultured mesangial cells. Activation of purinergic P2Z/P2X7 receptors may play a role in causing death of mesangial cells during glomerular disease.


1995 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Lassmann ◽  
Christian Bancher ◽  
Helene Breitschopf ◽  
Jerzy Wegiel ◽  
Maciej Bobinski ◽  
...  

1993 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 1023-1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Gold ◽  
M Schmied ◽  
G Rothe ◽  
H Zischler ◽  
H Breitschopf ◽  
...  

Since DNA fragmentation is a key feature of programmed cell death (PCD) and also occurs in certain stages of necrosis, we have adapted the methodology of in situ nick-translation (ISNT) to detect DNA fragmentation on a single-cell level. We first established the technique for cell preparations. Apoptosis was induced by gamma-irradiation on freshly isolated rat thymocytes. After fixation procedures, ISNT was performed by overnight incubation either with fluorescein-12-dUTP or with digoxigenin-labeled 11-dUTP and DNA polymerase I. The enzymatic incorporation of labeled nucleotides at sites of DNA fragmentation was detected by flow cytometry either directly or indirectly with fluorescein-conjugated anti-digoxigenin. The quantitative results demonstrated close correlation with morphological essays for apoptosis, DNA gel electrophoresis, and ISNT. Proliferating cells determined by bromodeoxyuridine immunofluorescence were not labeled by ISNT. Immunocytochemistry for cell surface antigens in combination with ISNT allowed the identification of specific cell types undergoing PCD. Furthermore, the simultaneous application of photolabeling techniques with ethidium monoazide and ISNT led to the identification of DNA fragmentation in cells with still intact membranes. Extending ISNT to tissue sections of paraformaldehyde-fixed, paraffin-embedded material reliably revealed labeling of cells with typical morphological features of apoptosis. However, this technique was not useful in detecting early stages of necrotic cell death.


2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 568-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping-An Li ◽  
Ingrid Rasquinha ◽  
Qing Ping He ◽  
Bo K. Siesjö ◽  
Katalin Csiszár ◽  
...  

Previous histopathologic results have suggested that one mechanism whereby hyperglycemia (HG) leads to exaggerated ischemic damage involves fragmentation of DNA. DNA fragmentation in normoglycemia (NG) and HG rats subjected to 30 minutes of forebrain ischemia was studied by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated DNA nick-labeling (TUNEL) staining, by pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and by ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction (LM-PCR). High molecular weight DNA fragments were detected by PFGE, whereas low molecular weight DNA fragments were detected using LM-PCR techniques. The LM-PCR procedure was performed on DNA from test samples with blunt (without Klenow polymerase) and 3′-recessed ends (with Klenow polymerase). In addition, cytochrome c release and caspase-3 activation were studied by immunocytochemistry. Results show that HG causes cytochrome c release, activates caspase-3, and exacerbates DNA fragments induced by ischemia. Thus, in HG rats, but not in control or NGs, TUNEL-stained cells were found in the cingulate cortex, neocortex, thalamus, and dorsolateral crest of the striatum, where neuronal death was observed by conventional histopathology, and where both cytosolic cytochrome c and active caspase-3 were detected by confocal microscopy. In the neocortex, both blunt-ended and stagger-ended fragments were detected in HG, but not in NG rats. Electron microscopy (EM) analysis was performed in the cingulate cortex, where numerous TUNEL-positive neurons were observed. Although DNA fragmentation was detected by TUNEL staining and electrophoresis techniques, EM analysis failed to indicate apoptotic cell death. It is concluded that HG triggers a cell death pathway and exacerbates DNA fragmentation induced by ischemia.


1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 634-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuiko Morita-Fujimura ◽  
Miki Fujimura ◽  
Makoto Kawase ◽  
Kensuke Murakami ◽  
Gyung Whan Kim ◽  
...  

The authors examined the effect of z-VAD.FMK, an inhibitor that blocks caspase family proteases, on cold injury-induced brain trauma, in which apoptosis as well as necrosis is assumed to play a role. A vehicle alone or with z-VAD.FMK was administered into the cerebral ventricles of mice 15 minutes before and 24 and 48 hours after cold injury. At 24 hours after cold injury, infarction volumes in the z-VAD.FMK-treated animals were significantly smaller than infarction volumes in the vehicle-treated animals, and were further decreased at 72 hours (0.92 ± 1.80 mm3, z-VAD.FMK-treated animals; 7.46 ± 3.53 mm3, vehicle-treated animals; mean ± SD, n = 7 to 8). The amount of DNA fragmentation was significantly decreased in the z-VAD.FMK-treated animals compared with the vehicle-treated animals, as shown by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated uridine 5'-triphosphate-biotin nick end labeling staining and DNA gel electrophoresis. By Western blot analysis, both the proform and activated form of interleukin-1β converting enzyme (caspase 1) were detected in the control brain, and the activated form showed moderate reduction after cold injury-induced brain trauma. These results indicate that caspase inhibitors could reduce cold injury-induced brain trauma by preventing neuronal cell death by DNA damage. The caspase family proteases appear to contribute to the mechanisms of cell death in cold injury-induced brain trauma and to provide therapeutic targets for traumatic brain injury.


1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Charriaut-Marlangue ◽  
I. Margaill ◽  
A. Represa ◽  
T. Popovici ◽  
M. Plotkine ◽  
...  

Apoptosis is one of the two forms of cell death and occurs under a variety of physiological and pathological conditions. Cells undergoing apoptotic cell death reveal a characteristic sequence of cytological alterations including membrane blebbing and nuclear and cytoplasmic condensation. Early activation of an endonuclease has been previously demonstrated after a transient focal ischemia in the rat brain ( Charriaut-Marlangue C, Margaill I, Plotkine M, Ben-Ari Y (1995) Early endonuclease activation following reversible focal ischemia. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 15:385–388). We now show that a significant number of striatal and cortical neurons exhibited chromatin condensation, nucleus segmentation, and apoptotic bodies increasing with recirculation time, as demonstrated by in situ labeling of DNA breaks in cryostat sections. Apoptotic nuclei were also detected in the horizontal limb diagonal band, accumbens nucleus and islands of Calleja. Several necrotic neurons, in which random DNA fragmentation occurs, were also shown at 6 h recirculation, in the ischemic core. Further investigation with hematoxylin/eosin staining revealed that apoptotic nuclei were present in cells with a large and swelled cytoplasm and in cells with an apparently well-preserved cytoplasm. These two types of cell death were reminiscent of those described in developmental cell death. Our data suggested that apoptosis may contribute to the expansion of the ischemic lesion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-249
Author(s):  
Tathiana Elisa Masetto ◽  
José Marcio Rocha Faria

Abstract: Dehydration is a necessary procedure prior to exposing seeds to long term storage, but this is associated with metabolism-linked injury mediated by cell injury. In order to assess cellular alterations during re-establishment of desiccation tolerance (DT) in C. fissilis germinated seeds and their relation to DNA damage, we verified the occurrence of DNA fragmentation through the TUNEL test and its evidence through the cytological analyses. To re-establish DT, germinated seeds were incubated for 72 h in polyethylene glycol (PEG, -2.04 MPa) before dehydration in silica gel (at 10% moisture content) followed by rehydration. The moisture content changes during the reestablishment of the desiccation tolerance was accomplished. (DT)TdT-dUPT terminal nick-end labeling (TUNEL) was used to assess rates of cell death. TUNEL staining was performed using Click-iT-TUNEL Alexa Flour imaging assay. The TUNEL test showed a consistent DNA fragmentation in the 2 and 5 mm long radicles. Moreover, nuclear and chromosomal alterations were observed in the 5 mm meristematic root cell cycle, contributing to the identification of diagnostic markers of cell death.


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