Autophagy is a catabolic process involved in the continuous removal of toxic protein aggregates and cellular organelles to maintain the homeostasis and functional integrity of cells. The mechanistic understanding of autophagy mediated neuroprotection during the development of neurodegenerative disorders remains elusive. Here, we investigated the potential role of rapamycin-induced activation of autophagy and PI3K/Akt1/mTOR/CREB pathway(s) in the neuroprotection of amyloid-beta (Aβ1-42)-insulted hippocampal neurons in rat model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) like phenotypes. A single intra-hippocampal injection of Aβ1-42 impaired redox balance and markedly induced synaptic dysfunction, neurotransmission dysfunction, and cognitive deficit, and suppressed pro-survival signaling in the adult rats. Rapamycin administration caused a significant reduction of mTOR complex 1 phosphorylation at Ser2481 and a significant increase in levels of autophagy markers such as microtubule-associated protein-1 light chain-3 (LC3), beclin-1, sequestosome-1/p62, unc-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1). In addition, rapamycin induced the activation of autophagy that further activated p-PI3K, p-Akt1 (Ser473), and p-CREB (Ser183) expression in Aβ1-42-treated rats. The activated autophagy markedly reversed Aβ1-42-induced impaired redox homeostasis by decreasing the levels of prooxidants-ROS generation, intracellular Ca flux and LPO, and increasing the levels of antioxidants-SOD, catalase, and GSH. The activated autophagy also provided significant neuroprotection against Aβ1-42-induced synaptic dysfunction by increasing the expression of synapsin-I, synaptophysin, and PSD95; and neurotransmission dysfunction by increasing the levels of CHRM2, DAD2 receptor, NMDA receptor, and AMPA receptor; and ultimately improved cognitive ability in rats. Wortmannin administration significantly reduced the expression of autophagy markers, p-PI3K, p-Akt1, and p-CREB, as well as the autophagy mediated neuroprotective effect. Our study demonstrate that autophagy can be an integrated part of pro-survival (PI3K/Akt1/mTOR/CREB) signaling and autophagic activation restores the oxidative defense mechanism(s), neurodegenerative damages, and maintains the integrity of synapse and neurotransmission in rat model of AD.

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Graphical abstract

Metformin, a biguanide, is a widely used antidiabetic drug, which inhibits gluconeogenesis and is used to treat hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes. Through activation of AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase) pathway, metformin also mimics caloric restriction health benefits. Aging causes substantial molecular to morphological changes in brain, the brain cells being more susceptible toward oxidative stress mediated damages due to the presence of high lipid content and higher oxygen consumption. Wistar rats (naturally aged and d-galactose induced rat model) were supplemented with metformin (300 mg/kg b.w. orally) for 6 weeks. The biomarkers of oxidative stress such as antioxidant capacity (ferric reducing antioxidant potential [FRAP]), malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), protein carbonyl (PCO), reactive oxygen species (ROS), acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, and nitric oxide (NO) were measured in brain tissues of control and experimental groups. The results indicate that metformin treatment augmented the levels of FRAP and GSH in naturally aged, and d-gal induced aging model groups compared to the respective controls. In contrast, metformin treated groups exhibited significant reduction in MDA, PCO, ROS, and NO levels and a significant increase in AChE activity in induced aging rats. The administration of d-galactose upregulated the expression of sirtuin-2, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and downregulated the expression of Beclin-1. Metformin supplementation downregulated the d-galactose induced expressions of sirtuin-2, IL-6, and TNF-α expression, whereas upregulated the Beclin-1 expression. Our data confirm that metformin restores the antioxidant status and improves healthy brain aging through the activation of autophagy and reduction in inflammation.

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