Cadmium-induced Autophagy and Autophagic Contribution to Cell Death in Cadmium-treated Mesangial Cells

Cadmium (Cd) is a nephrotoxic metal that has a number of consequences for renal function. Cells exposed to Cd may have methods to counteract toxic effects with processes like autophagy. Autophagy is an intracellular degradation system that delivers cytoplasmic constituents to the lysosome. This study investigated the mechanism of Cd-induced autophagy, and the relationship between autophagy and cell survival. At 10 µM exposure for 24 hours, Cd-induced autophagy was found to be reactive oxygen species-independent, and suppressed with thapsigargin treatment, suggesting the necessity of intracellular Ca2+. Inhibition of the Jun-N-Terminal Kinase resulted in the greatest suppression of Cd-induced autophagy. Autophagy was found to be protective against cell death elicited by the toxic metal, and the absence of autophagy resulted in increased apoptosis in mouse embryonic fibroblast cells. This study adds insight to the mechanism and protective effects of Cd-induced autophagy, and provides the groundwork for future experiments.M.Sc