Heat Stress Induced Apoptosis in Rat Intestinal Epithelial Cell Line-6 (IEC-6)

The aim of this paper is to study the effect of heat stress on the apoptosis of rat intestinal epithelial cell line-6 (IEC-6), using fluorescent dyeing technology to observe its morphological changes, flow cytometry to detect the apoptosis cells rate. RT-PCR to measure the apoptosis relevant genes. The results showed that there were evident morphological changes in the IEC-6 treated by the heat stress (42 degrees C 4h) and the cell membrane permeability was significantly enhanced. The apoptosis cells rate of early and late stages were significantly increased (p < 0.05). RT-PCR measurement revealed that the apoptosis promoting gene BAX expression was were significantly increased (p < 0.05) and the apoptosis inhibiting gene bcl-2 expression was were significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the caspase-3 gene expression was were significantly increased (p < 0.05). This preliminary result showed the heat stress can induce the apoptosis of IEC-6.