Bisphenol AF induces mouse spermatogonia apoptosis via reactive oxygen species-mediated Beclin-1 cleavage

Oxidative stress plays an essential role in homeostasis, cell signaling, and host defense mechanisms. However, excessive levels are harmful and cause DNA damage, lipid peroxidation, and mitochondrial dysfunction, ultimately causing cell death. Oxiapoptophagy, a cell death mechanism driven by excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS), involves both apoptosis and autophagy. This study investigated the mechanisms underlying bisphenol AF (BPAF)-induced cell death in mouse GC-1 spermatogonia (spg), using 7-ketocholesterol (7KC) as a reference oxiapoptophagy inducer. Both 7KC and BPAF inhibited GC-1 spg proliferation with comparable half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀): 16.9 µM for 7KC and 16.5 µM for BPAF. However, BPAF induced significantly higher ROS levels than 7KC. At 20 µM, BPAF predominantly triggered apoptosis, whereas 7KC mainly promoted autophagy. BPAF evidently increased cleaved Beclin-1 levels, suggesting a transition from autophagy to apoptosis and implicating Beclin-1 cleavage as key modulator of apoptosis. Furthermore, the ROS scavenger N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) reduced BPAF-induced ROS production, suppressed Beclin-1 cleavage, and partially restored GC-1 spg proliferation. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that BPAF-induced spermatogonia toxicity is mediated by ROS and regulated through Beclin-1 cleavage, underscoring the need for further investigation of BPAF's reproductive toxicity and the development of strategies to protect male reproductive health.