Promotion of rat brain-derived progenitor cell neurogenesis by liquiritigenin treatment: underlying mechanisms.
The purpose of the present study was to determine if liquiritigenin, which is a newly discovered estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta) agonist, can induce differentiation of brain-derived progenitor cells from rats and to investigate the mechanisms involved. Treatment of brain-derived progenitor cell cultures with liquiritigenin increased the number of cells that differentiated into neurons; but the treatment did not alter the growth of astrocytes. Furthermore, treatment with liquiritigenin decreased Notch-2 mRNA and protein expression, which could promote the growth of new neurons. Using RNA interference (RNAi), we determined that inhibition of Notch-2 by liquiritigenin was probably ERbeta-dependent. These findings highlight the possible role of liquiritigenin in the repair and regeneration of injured brain tissue of patients with neurodegenerative diseases and support further investigation of the Notch-2 signaling pathway using ERbeta agonists.
Liu
Rui Ting
RT
Institute of Medical Physics and Engineering, Department of Engineering Physics, TsingHua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Zou
Li Bo
LB
Fu
Jie Ying
JY
Lu
Qiu Jun
QJ
D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D020847:Estrogen Receptor Modulators / Q000494:pharmacology*; D047629:Estrogen Receptor beta / Q000819:agonists / Q000187:drug effects; D044950:Flavanones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D034622:RNA Interference; D051381:Rats; D051883:Receptor, Notch2 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
D020847:Estrogen Receptor Modulators; D047629:Estrogen Receptor beta; D044950:Flavanones; D051883:Receptor, Notch2; C083152:liquiritigenin