Novel water-soluble hexa(sulfobutyl)fullerene attenuates apoptosis formation after ischemic renal failure

The mechanism for apoptosis induction during the implantation of renal transplants or ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury might be related to the release of free radicals. Hexa(sulfobutyl)fullerene, a strong free radical scavenger, is an isomeric mixture of polyfunctional C₆₀ derivative carrying six sulfobutyl groups. To elucidate the role of hexa(sulfobutyl)fullerene in the I/R induced renal damage of the rat kidneys, we used TUNEL, DNA laddering, quantitative PCR and western blot to evaluate the expression of apoptosis. We found that less apoptotic expression and up-regulation in bcl-x_L, an anti-death gene, was found in the damaged kidneys with hexa(sulfobutyl)fullerene (100 μ g) pretreatment. It is suggested that the mechanism for hexa(sulfobutyl)fullerene attenuating I/R induced apoptosis in the rat kidney may be ascribed to the overexpression of bcl-x_L.