Aim: To study the effect of platelet factor 4 (PF4) on murine bone marrow cell apoptosis after irradiation with 5.0 Gy (60)COgamma and explore its potential mechanism.
Methods: 30 male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into three groups: namely normal control group (n = 6), PF4 treatment group (n=12) and irradiation (IR) group (n = 12). The mice in PF4 treatment group were administrated intraperitoneally PF4 40 microg/kg at 26 h and 20 h respectively before total-body irradiation with 5.0 Gy (60)COgamma ray. At 4 h and 20 h after irradiation the apoptosis of bone marrow cells were detected by flow cytometry (FCM) and the expression of Bax protein was identified by Western blot.
Results: At 4 h and 20 h after irradiation the apoptosis of bone marrow cells in PF4 treatment group was significantly lower than that in IR group (P < 0.01), the expression of Bax protein in the PF4 group was lower than that in the IR group (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: PF4 can protect bone marrow cells from radiation-induced apoptosis, which is partly due to the down-regulation of proapoptotic protein Bax expression.