title: The protective effect of the earthworm active ingredients on hepatocellular injury induced by endoplasmic reticulum stress.
abstract: The earthworm is a widely used Chinese herbal medicine. There are more than 40 prescriptions including earthworms in the "Compendium of Materia Medica". TCM theory holds that earthworms exert antispasmodic and antipyretic effects through the liver meridian to calm the liver. However, the clinical effect of earthworms on liver injury has not been clearly demonstrated. We have previously established a method to extract the active ingredients from earthworms (hereinafter referred to as EWAs) [1]. In the present study, we observed protective effect of the EWAs on tunicamycin-induced ERS (endoplasmic reticulum stress) model in human hepatic L02 cells. The results showed that the EWAs promote proliferation and reduced apoptosis of ERS model in L02 cells (P<0.01). The up-regulation of ERS-related proteins, including PERK (protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase), eIF2a (eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2a), ATF4 (activating transcription factor 4) and CHOP (CCAAT/enhancer binding protein homologous protein), in L02 cell under ERS was inhibited by treatment of the EWAs (P<0.01). In summary, our data suggest the EWAs can significant attenuate ERS-induced hepatocyte injury via PERK-eIF2a-ATF4 pathway.
authors.affiliation: Medical School, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471003, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Medical School, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471003, China. Electronic address: lengxinduan@163.com.
authors.forename: Leng-Xin
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Medical School, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471003, China.
authors.forename: Zheng-Shun
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Medical School, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471003, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Gang
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Pharmacology and Medical Molecular Biology, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471003, China.
authors.forename: Shou-Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Xi
mesh_terms: D051701:Activating Transcription Factor 4 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D059865:Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D015852:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009835:Oligochaeta / Q000737:chemistry*; D020011:Protective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051742:Transcription Factor CHOP / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014415:Tunicamycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D019892:eIF-2 Kinase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051701:Activating Transcription Factor 4; D015852:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-2; D020011:Protective Agents; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051742:Transcription Factor CHOP; D014415:Tunicamycin; D019892:eIF-2 Kinase; C497109:ATF4 protein, human
keywords: CHOP; Earthworm; Endoplasmic reticulum stress; Hepatic injury; PERK-eIF2a-ATF4 pathway