Abstract
Gossypol, a toxic polyphenol extracted from cotton seeds, is hazardous to human and animal health. Taurine is considered as an essential or semi-essential amino acid and has diverse cytoprotective effects. This study was aimed to investigate the protective effect and molecular mechanism of taurine against apoptosis of C2C12 mouse myoblasts induced by gossypol. C2C12 mouse myoblasts were exposed to gossypol (0, 1 nM, 10 nM, 100 nM, 1 μM, and 10 μM). Cell numbers were rapidly decreased with increasing concentrations of gossypol. Gossypol significantly induced apoptosis, decreased Bcl2 expression, and increased the protein levels of Bax and the cleaved caspase 3. Taurine (0.24 mM) treatment largely rescued the cell number decreased by gossypol, attenuated gossypol-induced cell apoptosis. GPR87 knockdown abolished the inhibition by taurine of cell apoptosis. Furthermore, GPR87 overexpression attenuated cell apoptosis induced by gossypol. Both taurine treatment and GPR87 overexpression stimulated AKT phosphorylation but inhibited AMPK phosphorylation, whereas gossypol had the opposite effects. Taurine treatment promoted GPR87 expression and subcellular localization and partially rescued the inhibition of gossypol on this expression. In summary, these data reveal that taurine attenuates gossypol-induced apoptosis of C2C12 mouse myoblasts via the GPR87-AMPK/AKT signaling.