Proteins provide important raw materials for the self-renewal of cells in the gastrointestinal tract. Cell self-renewal is inseparable from the coordination between apoptosis and autophagy.

However, there are few reports on the relationship between different nitrogen sources and apoptosis/autophagy.

Researchers from the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture (ISA) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shenzhen University compared the effects of different nitrogen sources on apoptosis and autophagy of rumen epithelial cells in goats. They found that nonprotein nitrogen and protein nitrogen regulate cell self-renewal in different manners.

The study has been published in Animals on Nov. 9.

The researchers found that ammonium chloride (NH₄C_l) induced cell apoptosis by causing mitochondrial dysfunction. The levels of autophagy-related proteins and the numbers of autophagosomes were higher in NH₄C_l-treated cells than in methionine (Met)-treated cells.

The results showed that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress played a critical role in the crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy induced by NH₄C_l and Met. And autophagy had a less obvious ameliorative effect on ruminal epithelial cell apoptosis after treatment with protein nitrogen than after treatment with nonprotein nitrogen. This maybe because protein nitrogen better suited than nonprotein nitrogen for protein synthesis and promoted the resistance of cells to AA deficiency stress.

Contact:ZHOU Chuanshe

E-mail:  zcs@isa.ac.cn

Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences