THE ROLE OF PROTEIN DIVA IN APOPTOSIS AND ITS POTENTIAL APPLICATION IN PROMOTING BONE MARROW STEM CELLS SURVIVAL

Abstract

Diva is a member of the Bcl2 family but its function in apoptosis remains largely unclear because of its specific expression found within restricted adult tissues. Previous overexpression studies done on various cell lines yielded contradicting conclusions pertaining to its apoptotic function. Here, we discovered the expression of endogenous Diva in PC12 neuronal-like cell line and rat bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs), leading to their utilisation for the functional studies of Diva. Through usage of recombinant Fas ligand, hydrogen peroxide, overexpression and knock down experiments, we discovered that Diva plays a crucial pro-survival role via the mitochondrial death pathway. In addition, immunoprecipitation studies also noted a decrease in Diva¿s interaction with Bcl2 and Bax following apoptosis induced by oxidative stress. By overexpressing Diva in BMSCs, we had observed an increase in the cells¿ capacity to survive under oxidative stress and microglial toxicity.