title: Quercetin alleviates high glucose-induced Schwann cell damage by autophagy.
abstract: Quercetin can reverse high glucose-induced inhibition of neural cell proliferation, and therefore may have a neuroprotective effect in diabetic peripheral neuropathy. It is difficult to obtain primary Schwann cells and RSC96 cells could replace primary Schwann cells in studies of the role of autophagy in the mechanism underlying diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Here, we show that under high glucose conditions, there are fewer autophagosomes in immortalized rat RSC96 cells and primary rat Schwann cells than under control conditions, the proliferative activity of both cell types is significantly impaired, and the expression of Beclin-1 and LC3, the molecular markers for autophagy, is significantly lower. After intervention with quercetin, the autophagic and proliferative activity of both cell types is rescued. These results suggest that quercetin can alleviate high glucose-induced damage to Schwann cells by autophagy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, China Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, China Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaochun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Cell Center, Institute of Basic Medical Science, Peking Union Medical College, China Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Bei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, China Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
keywords: Beclin-1; LC3; NSFC grant; RSC96; autophagy; diabetic peripheral neuropathy; high glucose; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; primary Schwann cells; proliferation; quercetin; ultrastructure