Grx1 Antagonized High Glucose-Induced Apoptosis in Endothelial Cells Through Inhibition of Jnk Pathway

To investigate the mechanism underlying the protective effects of glutaredoxin-1 (Grx 1) against high glucose-induced apoptosis in umbilical vein endothelial cells. The proliferation of cells was measured by MTT assay. The cells ultra-structure were observed by TEM and the apoptotic rate was detected by the immunofluorescent of Annexin V-FITC/PI with flow cytometer. The level of p-JNK and JNK were evaluated by western bloting. Results showed that Grx I prevented the inhibitory effect on cell viability induced by high glucose; Grx1 could inhibit high glucose-induced apoptosis and restrain apoptosis rate of endothelial cell significantly. The expression level of p-JNK protein significantly increased while that of JNK protein has no insignificantly chang in cells of the high glucose group, After pretreatment with Grx1, the expression level of p-JNK protein decreased. These results demonstrated that Grx I has protective effects against high glucose-induced apoptosis in HUVECs through inhibition of JNK pathway.