The role and mechanism of unfolded protein response signaling pathway in methylmercury-induced apoptosis of mouse spermatocytes germ cell-2 cells.

The study aimed to explore the role and mechanism of unfolded protein response (UPR) in methylmercury (MeHg)-induced Mouse Spermatocytes (GC-2spd[ts]) apoptosis. Methods such as MTT, flow cytometry, and Western Blot were used to evaluate the cell viability, membrane potential (MMP), reactive oxygen species (ROS), calcium ion (Ca ), rate of cell apoptosis, and the expression of apoptosis-related and UPR-related protein. The results showed that with the increase of MeHg concentration, cell viability and MMP decreased, ROS, Ca , rate of cell apoptosis, and the expression of apoptosis-related protein and UPR-related protein increased. To further explore the effect of ROS-induced oxidative damage on it, the ROS inhibitor N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) was used. The effects of MeHg on germ cell (GC-2) cells were partially inhibited after NAC pretreatment. Our present study proved that MeHg might induce cell apoptosis by activating the UPR signaling pathway in GC-2 cells and affect normal reproductive function.