title: Beta-asarone attenuates amyloid beta-induced autophagy via Akt/mTOR pathway in PC12 cells.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age related and progressive neurodegenerative disease. Autophagy is a self-degradative process and plays a critical role in removing long-lived proteins and damaged organelles. Recent evidence suggests that autophagy might be involved in the pathogenesis of AD. β-asarone have various neuroprotective effects. However, the effect of β-asarone on autophagy in amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) induced cell injury is unclear, and little is known about the signaling pathway of β-asarone in autophagy regulation. The aim of the present study was to determine whether β-asarone protects cells from Aβ1-42 induced cytotoxicity via regulation of Beclin-1 dependent autophagy and its regulating signaling pathway. We examined effects of β-asarone on cell morphology, cell viability, neuron specific enolase (NSE) levels, autophagosomes and regulating Beclin-1, p-Akt and p-mTOR expressions in Aβ1-42 treated PC12 cells. We found that β-asarone could maintain the original morphology of cells and increase cell viability and decrease NSE levels significantly. Meanwhile, β-asarone decreased Beclin-1 expression significantly. In addition, β-asarone can increase levels of p-Akt and p-mTOR. These results showed that β-asarone protected cells from Aβ1-42 induced cytotoxicity and attenuated autophagy via activation of Akt-mTOR signaling pathway, which could be involved in neuroprotection of β-asarone against Aβ toxicity. Our findings suggest that β-asarone might be a potential preventive drug for AD.
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, 16, Jichang Road, 510405 Guangzhou, China; Sanya Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, 106, Fenghuang Road, 572000 Sanya, China. Electronic address: xuezhongfeng@foxmail.com.
authors.forename: Zhongfeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, 16, Jichang Road, 510405 Guangzhou, China; Sanya Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, 106, Fenghuang Road, 572000 Sanya, China. Electronic address: 770217837@qq.com.
authors.forename: Yalei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, 16, Jichang Road, 510405 Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: Loveguangzhou2009@163.com.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, 16, Jichang Road, 510405 Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: xiaoyinlan@126.com.
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, 16, Jichang Road, 510405 Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: heyuping@163.com.
authors.forename: Yuping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, 16, Jichang Road, 510405 Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: zgmfx24a@163.com.
authors.forename: Ruoming
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, 16, Jichang Road, 510405 Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: fangyq2@163.com.
authors.forename: Yongqi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
mesh_terms: D029023:Acorus; D000081248:Allylbenzene Derivatives; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D000840:Anisoles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D016716:PC12 Cells; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000633:toxicity*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000081248:Allylbenzene Derivatives; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D000840:Anisoles; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C075222:amyloid beta-protein (1-42); C012195:asarone; C546845:mTOR protein, rat; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases
keywords: 3-methyladenine (PubChem CID: 1673); Akt; Alzheimer′s disease; Autophagy; Beclin-1; Beta-asarone; Beta-asarone (PubChem CID: 5281758); Mammalian target of rapamycin; NVP-BEZ235 (PubChem CID: 11977753); Rapamycin (PubChem CID: 5284616)