title: Pu-erh Tea Protects the Nervous System by Inhibiting the Expression of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5.
abstract: Glutamate is one of the major excitatory neurotransmitters of the CNS and is essential for numerous key neuronal functions. However, excess glutamate causes massive neuronal death and brain damage owing to excitotoxicity via the glutamate receptors. Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) is one of the glutamate receptors and represents a promising target for studying neuroprotective agents of potential application in neurodegenerative diseases. Pu-erh tea, a fermented tea, mainly produced in Yunnan province, China, has beneficial effects, including the accommodation of the CNS. In this study, pu-erh tea markedly decreased the transcription and translation of mGluR5 compared to those by black and green teas. Pu-erh tea also inhibited the expression of Homer, one of the synaptic scaffolding proteins binding to mGluR5. Pu-erh tea protected neural cells from necrosis via blocked Ca2+influx and inhibited protein kinase C (PKC) activation induced by excess glutamate. Pu-erh tea relieved rat epilepsy induced by LiCl-pilocarpine in behavioural and physiological assays. Pu-erh tea also decreased the expression of mGluR5 in the hippocampus. These results show that the inhibition of mGluR5 plays a role in protecting neural cells from glutamate. The results also indicate that pu-erh tea contains biological compounds binding transcription factors and inhibiting the expression of mGluR5 and identify pu-erh tea as a novel natural neuroprotective agent.
authors: Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China.|College of Life Science, Jilin University, No. 2699 Qianjin Street, Jilin Province. Rm. 226 Life Science Building, Changchun, 130012, China.
authors: Chunjie
authors: C
authors: Li
authors: Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China.|College of Life Science, Jilin University, No. 2699 Qianjin Street, Jilin Province. Rm. 226 Life Science Building, Changchun, 130012, China.
authors: Shaomeng
authors: S
authors: Chai
authors: Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China.|College of Life Science, Jilin University, No. 2699 Qianjin Street, Jilin Province. Rm. 226 Life Science Building, Changchun, 130012, China.
authors: Yongzhi
authors: Y
authors: Ju
authors: Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China.|College of Life Science, Jilin University, No. 2699 Qianjin Street, Jilin Province. Rm. 226 Life Science Building, Changchun, 130012, China.
authors: Lu
authors: L
authors: Hou
authors: Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China.|College of Life Science, Jilin University, No. 2699 Qianjin Street, Jilin Province. Rm. 226 Life Science Building, Changchun, 130012, China.
authors: Hang
authors: H
authors: Zhao
authors: Internal Medicine-Cardiovascular Department in China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Ma
authors: School of Science and Technology in Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, 130012, China.
authors: Tian
authors: T
authors: Li
authors: College of Life Science, Jilin University, No. 2699 Qianjin Street, Jilin Province. Rm. 226 Life Science Building, Changchun, 130012, China.|Yunnan Research Centre for Advanced Tea Processing, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, 650201, China.
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Sheng
authors: Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China. shiw@jlu.edu.cn.|College of Life Science, Jilin University, No. 2699 Qianjin Street, Jilin Province. Rm. 226 Life Science Building, Changchun, 130012, China. shiw@jlu.edu.cn.
authors: Wei
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2127-3169
authors: W
authors: Shi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005285:Fermentation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D009420:Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D064529:Receptor, Metabotropic Glutamate 5 / Q000378:metabolism*; D013662:Tea
chemical_list: C578937:Grm5 protein, rat; D010936:Plant Extracts; D064529:Receptor, Metabotropic Glutamate 5; D013662:Tea
keywords: Glutamate; Neurodegenerative diseases; Pu-erh tea; mGluR5