M. Stangel et al., H2O2 AND NITRIC OXIDE-MEDIATED OXIDATIVE STRESS INDUCE APOPTOSIS IN RAT SKELETAL-MUSCLE MYOBLASTS, Journal of neuropathology and experimental neurology, 55(1), 1996, pp. 36-43
In many degenerative and metabolic muscle diseases cells die without a
marked inflammatory response. A potential mechanism how this could be
accomplished is apoptotic cell death. Since there are no data availab
le about apoptosis in cells of myogenic origin, we examined rat skelet
al myoblasts for their potential to undergo apoptosis when exposed to
reactive oxygen intermediates and nitric oxide. we observed morphologi
c changes typical for apoptotic cell death, and DNA fragmentation was
confirmed by gel electrophoresis and molecular labeling assays. With t
hese methods we could show that both reactive oxygen intermediates and
nitric oxide can induce apoptosis in myoblasts in a dose-dependent ma
nner. These results are discussed with regard to possible implications
on the pathophysiology of various muscle diseases.