1. Academic Validation
  2. Melatonin Promotes the Proliferation of Chicken Sertoli Cells by Activating the ERK/Inhibin Alpha Subunit Signaling Pathway

Melatonin Promotes the Proliferation of Chicken Sertoli Cells by Activating the ERK/Inhibin Alpha Subunit Signaling Pathway

  • Molecules. 2020 Mar 9;25(5):1230. doi: 10.3390/molecules25051230.
Ke Xu 1 2 3 Jun Wang 1 2 3 Hongyu Liu 1 2 3 Jing Zhao 1 2 3 Wenfa Lu 1 2 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Joint Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Technology International Cooperation, Ministry of Education, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China.
  • 2 Key Lab of Animal Production, Product Quality and Security, Ministry of Education, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China.
  • 3 Jilin Province Engineering Laboratory for Ruminant Reproductive Biotechnology and Healthy Production, College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China.
Abstract

Melatonin influences physiological processes such as promoting proliferation and regulating cell development and function, and its effects on chicken Sertoli cells are unknown. Therefore, we investigated the effects of melatonin on cell proliferation and its underlying mechanisms in chicken Sertoli cells. Chicken Sertoli cells were exposed to varying melatonin concentrations (1, 10, 100, and 1000 nM), and the melatonin-induced effects on cell proliferation were measured by Cell Counting Kit 8 (CCK-8), 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU), real-time qPCR, and western blotting. We found that 1000 nM melatonin significantly (p < 0.05) promoted cell proliferation in chicken Sertoli cells. Furthermore, melatonin significantly (p < 0.05) increased the expression of inhibin alpha subunit (INHA), and the silencing of INHA reversed the melatonin-induced effects on Sertoli cell proliferation. We also found that melatonin activates the extracellular-regulated protein kinase (ERK) signaling pathway. To explore the role of the ERK signaling pathway in melatonin-induced cell proliferation, PD98059 (an inhibitor of EKR1/2) was used to pre-treat chicken Sertoli cells. The melatonin-induced proliferation of chicken Sertoli cells was reversed by PD98059, with decreased cell viability, weakened cell proliferation, and down-regulated expression of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), cyclin D1 (CCND1) and INHA. In summary, our results indicate that melatonin promotes the proliferation of chicken Sertoli cells by activating the ERK/inhibin alpha subunit signaling pathway.

Keywords

ERK1/2; Sertoli cells; chicken; inhibin alpha subunit; melatonin; proliferation.

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