Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of FOXO1 gene silencing on the activity and apoptosis of rat alveolar type II epithelial cells (AEC-II) induced by H2O2. Methods AEC-II cells were randomly divided into control group, H2O2 group, si-FOXO1 group and NC group. CCK8 assay and annexin V-FITC/PI cell apoptosis kit were used to detect cell viability and apoptosis rate, and Western blot was used to detect FOXO1, p53, Bax and p-p38 protein expression. Results H2O2 could significantly up-regulate the expression of FOXO1, p53, Bax and p-p38 protein in AEC-II cells, inhibit cell viability and induce apoptosis(P<0.05). However, transfection of FOXO1 siRNA could significantly reduce the up-regulation of FOXO1, p53, Bax and p-p38 protein expression, cell viability inhibitors and the induction of apoptosis in AEC-II cells induced by H2O2(P<0.05). Conclusions Silencing FOXO1 gene can inhibit the apoptosis of AEC-II induced by H2O2, which may be related to down-regulation of p38 MAPK signaling pathway.

Key words: alveolar epithelial cells, FOXO1 gene, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), apoptosis