Taurine protects murine hepatocytes against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis by tert-butyl hydroperoxide via PI3K/Akt and mitochondrial-dependent pathways

The present study aims to investigate the beneficial role of taurine in tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP)-induced oxidative stress, cytotoxicity and cell death using murine hepatocytes as the working model. TBHP caused a time-dependent increase in alkaline phosphatase leakage, extensive ROS formation and alteration in antioxidant machineries. Moreover, TBHP upregulated NF-κB phosphorylation, caused injury to cellular mitochondria by reciprocal regulation of Bcl2 family proteins; incapacitated cellular respiration, accelerated cytochrome c release from mitochondria and induced apoptotic death in hepatocytes. Taurine treatment prevented TBHP-induced oxidative insult and decreased the activation of NF-κB as well as apoptotic signalling pathways. Signal transduction studies with specific inhibitors PS1145 (IκB inhibitor) and LY294002 (PI3K inhibitor) showed that the mechanism of the protective action of taurine involves the upregulation of Akt and inhibition of NF-κB. Combining, our result suggest that taurine supplementation in regular diet may provide a potential therapeutic choice against TBHP-induced hepatic oxidative injury.