Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Aug;31(8):1325-1335.
doi: 10.5713/ajas.17.0799. Epub 2018 Jan 26.

Effects of dietary spermine supplementation on cell cycle, apoptosis, and amino acid transporters of the thymus and spleen in piglets

Wei Cao  1   2 , Xianjian Wu  1   2 , Gang Jia  1   2 , Hua Zhao  1   2 , Xiaoling Chen  1   2 , Caimei Wu  1   2 , Jingyi Cai  1   2 , Jing Wang  3 , Guangmang Liu  1   2
Affiliations

Effects of dietary spermine supplementation on cell cycle, apoptosis, and amino acid transporters of the thymus and spleen in piglets

Wei Cao et al. Asian-Australas J Anim Sci. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated whether spermine supplementation could regulate cell cycle, apoptosis, and amino acid transporter-related genes expression in the thymus and spleen of early weaned piglets.

Methods: Eighty female piglets were randomly distributed to receive adequate nutrients supplemented with spermine (0.4 mmol/kg body weight/24 h) or to be provided with restricted nourishment supplemented with normal saline for 7 h or 3, 6, or 9 d in pairs.

Results: Regardless of administration time, spermine supplementation significantly up-regulated cyclin A2 gene expression but down-regulated p21 and cyclin D3 mRNA levels in the thymus and spleen and reduced cyclin E2 gene expression in the thymus of piglets (p< 0.05). Irrespective of the treatment period, the reduced Bax and caspase-3 gene expressions and improved Bcl-2 mRNA level were observed in the thymus and spleen of spermine-administrated piglets (p<0.05). Regardless of supplementation time, spermine intake significantly enhanced the expressions of amino acid transporter-related genes (SLC1A1, SLC1A5, SLC7A1, SLC7A7, and SLC15A1) in both thymus and spleen, as well as SLC7A9 in the spleen of piglets (p<0.05). In addition, extended spermine administration also markedly promoted cell proliferation, depressed apoptosis and modulated amino acid transport (p< 0.05), and such effects were the greatest during prolonged spermine supplementation (6 d) compared to the other time periods (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Spermine supplementation may regulate cell cycle during the G1/S phase, suppress apoptosis and modulate amino acid transport. A period of 6 d of spermine supplementation is required to produce the optimal effects on nutritional implications.

Keywords: Amino Acid Transporters; Apoptosis; Cell Cycle; Piglet; Spermine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

We certify that there is no conflict of interest with any financial organization regarding the material discussed in the manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Relative mRNA levels of cyclin A2 (A), p21 (B), cyclin D3 (C), and cyclin E2 (D) in the thymus of piglet fed diets with or without spermine for 7 h, 3 d, 6 d, or 9 d. Cyclin A2, p21, cyclin D3, and cyclin E2, cell cycle related factor. Values are means±standard error of the mean (n = 6). a,b,c,d Means bearing different letters differ significantly (p<0.05).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Relative mRNA levels of cyclin A2 (A), p21 (B), cyclin D3 (C), and cyclin E2 (D) in the spleen of piglet fed diets with or without spermine for 7 h, 3 d, 6 d, or 9 d. Cyclin A2, p21, cyclin D3, and cyclin E2, cell cycle related factor. Values are means±standard error of the mean (n = 6). a,b,c,d,e,f Means bearing different letters differ significantly (p<0.05)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Relative mRNA levels of Bax (A), Caspase-3 (B), Bcl-2 (C) in the thymus of piglet fed diets with or without spermine for 7 h, 3 d, 6 d, or 9 d. Bax and Bcl-2, apoptosis related factor; Caspase-3, cysteine-aspartic. Values are means±standard error of the mean (n = 6). a,b,c,d,e Means bearing different letters differ significantly (p<0.05).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Relative mRNA levels of Bax (A), Caspase-3 (B), Bcl-2 (C) in the spleen of piglet fed diets with or without spermine for 7 h, 3 d, 6 d, or 9 d. Bax and Bcl-2, apoptosis related factor; Caspase-3, cysteine-aspartic. Values are means±standard error of the mean (n = 6). a,b,c,d,e,f Means bearing different letters differ significantly (p<0.05).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Fang T, Liu G, Cao W, et al. Spermine: new insights into the intestinal development and serum antioxidant status of suckling piglets. RSC Adv. 2016;6:31323–35.
    1. Liu G, Fang T, Yan T, et al. Metabolomic strategy for the detection of metabolic effects of spermine supplementation in weaned rats. J Agric Food Chem. 2014;62:9035–42. - PubMed
    1. Cao W, Wu X, Jia G, et al. New insights into the role of dietary spermine on inflammation, immune function and related-signalling molecules in the thymus and spleen of piglets. Arch Anim Nutr. 2017;71:175–91. - PubMed
    1. Pegg AE. The function of spermine. IUBMB Life. 2014;66:8–18. - PubMed
    1. Liu GM, Yan T, Fang TT, et al. Nutrimetabolomic analysis provides new insights into spermine-induced ileum-system alterations for suckling rats. RSC Adv. 2015;5:48769–78.

LinkOut - more resources