Cadmium-induced apoptosis through reactive oxygen species-mediated mitochondrial oxidative stress and the JNK signaling pathway in TM3 cells, a model of mouse Leydig cells

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal that widely exists in the environment and industry, and which causes serious damages to reproductive system. Recent studies have reported that cadmium induces apoptosis of various germ cells in testes, resulting in male infertility. However, the exact mechanism of cadmium-induced apoptosis remains unclear. In this study, we hypothesized that reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway was involved in cadmium-induced apoptosis in TM3 cells, a model of mouse Leydig cells. TM3 cells were exposed for various times to a range of cadmium concentrations. We found that cadmium reduced TM3 cell viability and increased apoptosis in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the levels of ROS generation and the phosphorylation of JNK were elevated by cadmium treatment. In addition, the nuclear transcription factor c-jun was significantly activated, which led to increased expression of downstream c-jun targets and Bcl-2 was decreased, accompanied with downstream activation of apoptosis-related proteins such as Cleaved-Caspase3 and Cleaved-PARP. However, pretreatment with the ROS inhibitor N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) and JNK inhibitor JNK-IN-8, ROS, JNK and cadmium-induced TM3 cell apoptosis were remarkably suppressed. Based on above-mentioned results, this study provides a mechanistic understanding of cadmium induced TM3 cell apoptosis through the ROS/JNK signaling pathways.