Effect of alternariol on PKA-CREB signal pathway in NIH3T3 cells
AIM: To investigate the activation of PKA-CREB pathway in NIH3T3 cells induced by AOH. METHODS: The NIH3T3 cells were treated with 20 μmol/L AOH for 1 h, or the cells were pretreated with an inhibitor of PKA ( H89) for 1 h, then exposed to AOH for 1 h. The level of activated catalytic sub-units of PKA in NIH3T3 cells were observed by immunofluores-cence and immunocytochemistry. The phosphorylation of CREB were determined by immunocytochemistry. RESULTS: The expression of phospho-PKA catalytic subunits and phospho-CREB in NIH3T3 cells induced by AOH were significantly higher than that in the control groups ( P < 0. 05 ). H89 partly blocked the AOH-induced phospho-PKA and phospho-CREB expression. CONCLUSION: AOH can induce the activation of PKA-CREB signal pathway in NIH3T3 cells, which provides evidence for the molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis of AOH.