Effect of autophagy on ethanol-induced apoptosis of gastric epithelial cells

Objective To investigate the impact of autophagy on the level of apoptosis induced by ethanol in gastric epithelial cells (GES-1) in vitro.Methods GES-1 cells were treated with ethanol at 100-1 600 mmol/L as an ethanol-induced apoptotic model.GES-1 cells were divided into 4 groups:control group,ethanol group,ethanol and rapamycin (RAPA,autophagy revulsant) group,and ethanol and chloroquine (CQ,autophagy inhibitor) group.Apoptosis rate was measured using flow cytometry.The methyl thiazol tetrazolium (MTT) assay was used to evaluate the cell proliferation.Autophagic level was measured by immunofluorescence microscopy.The expression of autophagy related proteins microtubule2associated protein 1 light chain 32β3(LC3) was detected by using Western blotting.Results Induction of autophagy could significantly reduce ethanol-induced apoptosis of GES-1 cells.Apoptosis rate in ethanol group [(17.78 ± 7.86) ％] was higher than that in control group [(12.64 ± 6.82) ％,P ＜ 0.05] and RAPA group [(14.88 ± 7.12) ％,P ＜ 0.05],but lower than the ethanol and chloroquine group [(21.44 ± 8.69) ％,P ＜ 0.05].Additionally,under the intervention of ethanol,up-regulation of autophagy could promote the cell proliferation of GES-1 cells.Conclusion Ethanol may induce the apoptosis of gastric epithelial cells.Up-regulation of autophagy protects GES-1 cells against ethanol-induced apoptosis while inhibition of autophagy may aggravate ethanol-induced apoptosis of GES-1 cells. Key words: Autophagy;  Apoptosis ;  Gastric epithelial cells;  Gastric mucosa