The effect of mitochondrial ATP-sensitive potassium channels on apoptosis of chick embryo cecal cells by Eimeria tenella

Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of mitochondrial ATP-sensitive potassium (mitoK ATP ) channels on apoptosis induced by Eimeria tenella . At 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h after Eimeria tenella infection, TUNEL assays and translation of phosphatidyl serines to the host cell plasma membrane surface showed that diazoxide-treated chick embryo cecal cells underwent less apoptosis ( P  0.05), while light microscopy showed that infection rates of treated cells were higher ( P  0.01) than untreated cells. Caspase 9 and caspase 3 of infected cells were activated less ( P  0.01) in diazoxide-treated cells than untreated cells. These results indicate that opening mitoK ATP channels can protect chick embryo cecal cells from mitochondria-dependent apoptosis induced by Eimeria tenella by inhibiting activations of caspase 9 and caspase 3.