DIDS inhibits overexpression BAK1-induced mitochondrial apoptosis through GSK3/-catenin signaling pathway

Bcl-2 homologous antagonist/killer (BAK1) is a critical regulator of mitochondrial apoptosis. Although upregulation of BAK1 induces apoptosis has been established, the underlying molecular mechanism is far from clear. 4,4-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2-disulfonic acid (DIDS), an organic anion used as a blocker of anion exchangers and chloride channels, has been proved to rescue cell apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo. However, whether DIDS can inhibit BAK1-induced mitochondrial apoptosis remains undefined. Thus, this study aimed to explore whether DIDS could protect BAK1-induced apoptosis through GSK3/-catenin signaling pathway. The results showed overexpression BAK1 in 293T cells induced mitochondrial apoptosis accompanied by increasing the expression levels of cleaved caspase-9, -3, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and reducing the MMP. Furthermore, overexpression BAK1 decreased the expression levels of Ser9-GSK3 and -catenin. In addition, lithium chloride (LiCl), an activator of Wnt/-catenin signaling pathway, markedly attenuated overexpression BAK1-induced mitochondrial apoptosis by restoring the expression levels of Ser9-GSK3 and -catenin. Finally, DIDS absolutely abolished overexpression BAK1-mediated mitochondrial apoptosis through recovering the expression levels of Ser9-GSK3 and -catenin. Taken together, our results reveal that DIDS blocks overexpression BAK1-induced mitochondrial apoptosis through GSK3/-catenin pathway.