scholarly journals Direct current stimulation enhances neuronal alpha-synuclein degradation in vitro

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gessica Sala ◽  
Tommaso Bocci ◽  
Valentina Borzì ◽  
Marta Parazzini ◽  
Alberto Priori ◽  
...  

AbstractDespite transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (DCS) is currently proposed as a symptomatic treatment in Parkinson’s disease, the intracellular and molecular mechanisms elicited by this technique are still unknown, and its disease-modifying potential unexplored. Aim of this study was to elucidate the on-line and off-line effects of DCS on the expression, aggregation and degradation of alpha-synuclein (asyn) in a human neuroblastoma cell line under basal conditions and in presence of pharmachologically-induced increased asyn levels. Following DCS, gene and protein expression of asyn and its main autophagic catabolic pathways were assessed by real-time PCR and Western blot, extracellular asyn levels by Dot blot. We found that, under standard conditions, DCS increased monomeric and reduced oligomeric asyn forms, with a concomitant down-regulation of both macroautophagy and chaperone-mediated autophagy. Differently, in presence of rotenone-induced increased asyn, DCS efficiently counteracted asyn accumulation, not acting on its gene transcription, but potentiating its degradation. DCS also reduced intracellular and extracellular asyn levels, increased following lysosomal inhibition, independently from autophagic degradation, suggesting that other mechanisms are also involved. Collectively, these findings suggest that DCS exerts on-line and off-line effects on the expression, aggregation and autophagic degradation of asyn, indicating a till unknown neuroprotective role of tDCS.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natale Belluardo ◽  
Giuseppa Mudò ◽  
Valentina Di Liberto ◽  
Monica Frinchi ◽  
Daniele F. Condorelli ◽  
...  

Neuroblastoma arises from neural crest cell precursors failing to complete the process of differentiation. Thus, agents helping tumor cells to differentiate into normal cells can represent a valid therapeutic strategy. Here, we evaluated whether guanosine (GUO), a natural purine nucleoside, which is able to induce differentiation of many cell types, may cause the differentiation of human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells and the molecular mechanisms involved. We found that GUO, added to the cell culture medium, promoted neuron-like cell differentiation in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. This effect was mainly due to an extracellular GUO action since nucleoside transporter inhibitors reduced but not abolished it. Importantly, GUO-mediated neuron-like cell differentiation was independent of adenosine receptor activation as it was not altered by the blockade of these receptors. Noteworthy, the neuritogenic activity of GUO was not affected by blocking the phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway, while it was reduced by inhibitors of protein kinase C or soluble guanylate cyclase. Furthermore, the inhibitor of the enzyme heme oxygenase-1 but not that of nitric oxide synthase reduced GUO-induced neurite outgrowth. Interestingly, we found that GUO was largely metabolized into guanine by the purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) enzyme released from cells. Taken together, our results suggest that GUO, promoting neuroblastoma cell differentiation, may represent a potential therapeutic agent; however, due to its spontaneous extracellular metabolism, the role played by the GUO-PNP-guanine system needs to be further investigated.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (17) ◽  
pp. 6343
Author(s):  
Anna Zmeškalová ◽  
Andrea Popelová ◽  
Aneta Exnerová ◽  
Blanka Železná ◽  
Jaroslav Kuneš ◽  
...  

Prolactin-releasing peptide (PrRP), a natural ligand for the GPR10 receptor, is a neuropeptide with anorexigenic and antidiabetic properties. Due to its role in the regulation of food intake, PrRP is a potential drug for obesity treatment and associated type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Recently, the neuroprotective effects of lipidized PrRP analogs have been proven. In this study, we focused on the molecular mechanisms of action of natural PrRP31 and its lipidized analog palm11-PrRP31 in the human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y to describe their cellular signaling and possible anti-apoptotic properties. PrRP31 significantly upregulated the phosphoinositide-3 kinase-protein kinase B/Akt (PI3K-PKB/Akt) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase/cAMP response element-binding protein (ERK-CREB) signaling pathways that promote metabolic cell survival and growth. In addition, we proved via protein kinase inhibitors that activation of signaling pathways is mediated specifically by PrRP31 and its palmitoylated analog. Furthermore, the potential neuroprotective properties were studied through activation of anti-apoptotic pathways of PrRP31 and palm11-PrRP31 using the SH-SY5Y cell line and rat primary neuronal culture stressed with toxic methylglyoxal (MG). The results indicate increased viability of the cells treated with PrRP and palm11-PrRP31 and a reduced degree of apoptosis induced by MG, suggesting their potential use in the treatment of neurological disorders.


Open Medicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1121-1131
Author(s):  
Bo Wei ◽  
Gui-rong Xiao ◽  
Cheng-long Wu ◽  
Yi-qin Xu

Abstract Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a prevalent neurodegenerative disease. Currently, the molecular mechanisms underlying the progressions of PD are not fully understood. The human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y has been widely used as an in vitro model for PD. This study aims to investigate the molecular mechanisms of the non-coding RNA-mediated SH-SY5Y differentiation induced by retinoic acid (RA). By microArray analysis, lncRNA HAGLR was observed to be significantly upregulated during the RA-induced SH-SY5Y differentiation. Silencing HAGLR blocked the RA-induced SH-SY5Y differentiation. Moreover, bioinformatical analysis illustrated that miR-130a-3p contains binding sites for HAGLR. The RNA-pull down assay and luciferase assay demonstrated that HAGLR functioned as a ceRNA of miR-130a-3p in SH-SY5Y cells. Overexpression of miR-130a-3p effectively inhibited SH-SY5Y differentiation. We identified MeCP2, a vital molecule in neuronal diseases, to be a direct target of miR-130a-3p in SH-SY5Y cells by western blot and luciferase assays. The rescue experiments verified that recovery of miR-130a-3p in HAGLR-overexpressing SH-SY5Y cells could successfully overcome the RA-induced SH-SY5Y differentiation by targeting MeCP2. In summary, this study reveals a potential molecular mechanism for the lncRNA-HAGLR-promoted in vitro neuron differentiation by targeting the miR-130a-3p-MeCP2 axis, contributing to the understanding of the pathogenesis and progression of PD.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
İrem Bozbey ◽  
Suat Sari ◽  
Emine Şalva ◽  
Didem Kart ◽  
Arzu Karakurt

Background: Azole antifungals are among the first-line drugs clinically used for the treatment of systemic candidiasis, a deadly type of fungal infection that threatens mostly immunecompromised and hospitalized patients. Some azole derivatives were also reported to have antiproliferative effects on cancer cells. Objective: In this study, 1-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)-2-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethanone (3), its oxime (4), and a series of its novel oxime ester derivatives (5a-v) were synthesized and tested for their in vitro antimicrobial activities against certain ATCC standard strains of Candida sp. fungi and bacteria. The compounds were also tested for their cytotoxic effects against mouse fibroblast and human neuroblastoma cell lines. Molecular modeling studies were performed to provide insights into their possible mechanisms for antifungal and antibacterial actions. Methods: The compounds were synthesized by the reaction of various oximes with acyl chlorides. Antimicrobial activity of the compounds was determined according to the broth microdilution method. For the determination of cytotoxic effect, we used MTS assay. Molecular docking and QM/MM studies were performed to predict the binding mechanisms of the active compounds in the catalytic site of C. albicans CYP51 (CACYP51) and S. aureus flavohemoglobin (SAFH), the latter of which was created via homology modeling. Results: 5d, 5l, and 5t showed moderate antifungal activity against C. albicans, while 3, 5c, and 5r showed significant antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Most of the compounds showed approximately 40-50% inhibition against the human neuroblastoma cells at 100 µM. In this line, 3 was the most potent with an IC50 value of 82.18 μM followed by 5a, 5o, and 5t. 3 and 5a were highly selective to the neuroblastoma cells. Molecular modelling results supported the hypothesis that our compounds were inhibitors of CAYP51 and SAFH. Conclusion: This study supports that oxime ester derivatives may be used for the development of new antimicrobial and cytotoxic agents.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 750
Author(s):  
Zahira Tber ◽  
Mohammed Loubidi ◽  
Jabrane Jouha ◽  
Ismail Hdoufane ◽  
Mümin Alper Erdogan ◽  
...  

We report herein the evaluation of various pyrido[2′,1′:2,3]imidazo[4,5-c]isoquinolin-5-amines as potential cytotoxic agents. These molecules were obtained by developing the multicomponent Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé reaction to yield various pyrido[2′,1′:2,3]imidazo[4,5-c]quinolines which are isosteres of ellipticine whose biological activities are well established. To evaluate the anticancer potential of these pyrido[2′,1′:2,3]imidazo[4,5-c]isoquinolin-5-amine derivatives in the human neuroblastoma cell line, the cytotoxicity was examined using the WST-1 assay after 72 h drug exposure. A clonogenic assay was used to assess the ability of treated cells to proliferate and form colonies. Protein expressions (Bax, bcl-2, cleaved caspase-3, cleaved PARP-1) were analyzed using Western blotting. The colony number decrease in cells was 50.54%, 37.88% and 27.12% following exposure to compounds 2d, 2g and 4b respectively at 10 μM. We also show that treating the neuroblastoma cell line with these compounds resulted in a significant alteration in caspase-3 and PARP-1 cleavage.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document