Paeoniflorin exerts neuroprotective effects against glutamate-induced PC12 cellular cytotoxicity by inhibiting apoptosis

Abstract

Paeoniflorin (PF) is an active ingredient of Radix Paeoniae, which is known to exert neuroprotective effects. However, the mechanims behind the neuroprotective effects of PF are not yet fully understood. The apoptosis of neurons plays an important role in the cerebral ischemia-induced cascade response. This study aimed to investigate neuroprotective effects of PF against glutamate-induced PC12 cellular cytotoxicity and to determine whether these effects are mediated via the inhibition of apoptosis in vitro and the activity of mitochondrial apoptosis-associated proteins in PC12 cells. Exposure of the PC12 cells to glutamate induced cell morphological changes, significantly decreased cell viability and induced apoptosis, with similar results being observed from the Hoechst 33342 staining and Annexin V/PI staining experiments. Glutamate also increased the lactate dehydrogenase release by the PC12 cells. However, treatment with PF prevented these effects. Furthermore, PF inhibited Bax and Bad expression and increased Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL expression; it also decreased the levels of downstream protein (caspase-3 and caspase-9). Collectively, our results indicate that PF protects PC12 cells against glutamate-induced neurotoxicity possibly through the inhibition of the expression of mitochondrial apoptosis-associated proteins.

Paeoniflorin protects spiral ganglion neurons from cisplatin‐induced ototoxicity: Possible relation to PINK1/BAD pathway

“…PF also exerts an effect on anti-apoptosis in different works. 11,12 In this study, we found less TUNEL positive staining in PF pre-treated group than the group only received cisplatin, implying that PF protects SGNs from cisplatin via inhibiting apoptosis.…”

“…7,9,10 Moreover, PF also exerts an effect on anti-apoptosis, which regulates the Bcl-2 family to reduce cell apoptosis caused by different stimuli, including chemotherapeutic agents. [11][12][13][14] Cisplatin, one of the most widely used antitumour drugs in clinic, 15 is greatly limited to clinical application attributable to its serious side effects like ototoxicity and nephrotoxicity. With regard to ototoxicity induced by cisplatin, audiometric studies show that after cisplatin therapy 93% of patients will have a certain degree of progressive and irreversible sensorineural hearing loss.…”

Effects of botulinum toxin A on endometriosis‑associated pain and its related mechanism

“…Among them, p38 MAPK mediates the signal transduction of apoptosis when the cells are stimulated by stress. Once activated, it can rapidly enter the nucleus from the cytoplasm and activate transcription factor p53, which leads to mitochondrial dysfunction by inhibiting members of the Bcl2 family and promoting the expression of Bax, which results in the release of apoptotic factors into the cytoplasm to activate caspase cascades leading to apoptosis ( 34 – 37 ). In the present study, the phosphorylation level of p38 MAPK in the spinal cord of the EMS model was increased, while the expression of Bax increased and Bcl2 decreased.…”

Paeoniflorin inhibits cell viability and invasion of liver cancer cells via inhibition of Skp2

“…Paeoniflorin (PF) is a bioactive component isolated from the paeony root, which exerts multiple immunoregulatory, anti-hyperglycemic and anti-hypotensive effects (9,10). PF has been suggested to possess anti-tumor functions in a variety of human cancer types, including liver cancer (11)(12)(13)(14)(15).…”