Influence of rapamycin on autophagy and apoptosis of two lepidopteran cell lines

In order to understand the relationship between autophagy and apoptosis, we investigated autophagy and apoptosis in two Lepidopteran cell lines, BMN-e cell, and Spodoptera litura(Fabricius) cell line (SL-HP) after treatment with rapamycin. Rapamycin induced autophagy and apoptosis in BMN-e cells, while 3-methyladenine suppressed autophagy and apoptosis induced by rapamycin in BMN-e cells. However, rapamycin induced autophagy but did not induce apoptosis in SL-HP cells. When the cells were treated with rapamycin in advance, apoptosis induced by actinomycin D was partially inhibited, but 3-methyladenine had no effect on apoptosis induced by actinomycin D. It indicated that autophagy and apoptosis in BMN-e cells had a positive correlation. In contrast, there was no correlation in SL-HP cells, and the increasing of autophagy inhibited apoptosis in this cell line in some extent.