Abstract: Objective To observe the effect of the signal pathway of aPKCι/ζ (antypical protein kinase Cι/ζ)-NRF2 (nuclear factor-Ｅ2 related factor) on γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase（γ-GCS）of the bronchial epithelial cells of rats after exposure to cigarette smoke extracts（CSE）. Methods γ-GCS, NRF2 and p-aPKCι/ζ proteins were semi-quantified by Western blot. The expression of γ-GCS protein was assessed by immunocytochemistry. γ-GCS mRNA expression were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). NRF2 protein was observed by immunofluorescence. Results NRF2 protein mainly expressed in the nucleus, NRF2 protein of nucleus strongly expressed after exposure to CSE for 3 hours. p-aPKCι/ζ protein significantly enhanced in CSE 3h group than the control group（P＜0.05）. γ-GCS protein and mRNA were significantly increased in CSE 3h group as compared to the control group（P＜0.05）.Pretreated with aPKCι/ζ inhibitor RO318220, NRF2 protein of cytoplasm strongly expressed, p-aPKCι/ζ protein, γ-GCS protein and mRNA were significantly decreased than CSE3h group（P＜0.05）. The correlation analysis demonstrated that there were a positive correlation between NRF2 and γ-GCS and p- aPKCι/ζ, and between p-aPKCι/ζ and NRF2 and γ-GCS（P＜0.05）. Conclusion CSE might upregulate γ-GCS expression through aPKCι/ζ -NRF2 signaling pathway in the bronchial epithelial cells of rats.

Key words: cigarette smoke extract, antypical protein kinase Cι/ζ, Nuclear factor –Ｅ2 related factor, γ- glutamylcysteine synthetase