• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.254-259
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• 2004

Jeongshin-tang (JST) is a Korean herbal prescription, which has been successfully applied for the various neuronal diseases. However, it's effect remains unknown in experimental models. To investigate the biological effect of JST in Alzheimer's disease (AD) in vitro model, we analized the production of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8, and expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in IL-1β plus β-amyloid [25-35] fragment (A)-stimulated human astrocytoma cell line U373MG. JST alone had no effect on the cell viability. The production of IL-6 and IL-8 was significantly inhibited by pretreatment with JST (1mg/㎖) on IL-1β plus A-stimulated U373MG cells. Maximal inhibition rate of IL-6 and IL-8 production by JST was about 41.22% (P<0.01) and 34.45% (P<0.05), respectively. The expression level of COX-2 protein was up-regulated by IL-1β plus A but the increased level of COX-2 was inhibited by pretreatment with JST (1 mg/㎖). These data indicate that JST has a regulatory effect on cytokine production and COX-2 expression, which might explain it's beneficial effect in the treatment of AD.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 2024

FUN14 domain-containing protein 1 (FUNDC1), an outer mitochondrial membrane protein, contributes to removal of damaged mitochondria through mitophagy. In this study, to elucidate the role of the FUNDC1 in the amyloid beta peptide (A_β)-induced neuropathy, changes in the degree of mitochondrial dysfunction and cell injury caused by A_β treatment were examined in the HT-22 neuronal cells in which the FUNDC1 expression was transiently silenced or overexpressed. We found that A_β treatment causes a time-dependent decrease of the FUNDC1 expression. In the A_β-treated cells, there were a drop in MTT reduction ability, depletion of cellular ATP, disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential, stimulation of cellular ROS production, and increased mitochondrial Ca²⁺ load. Activation of caspase-3 and induction of apoptotic cell death were also observed. Transient silencing of the FUNDC1 expression by transfection with the FUNDC1 small interfering RNA per se caused mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptotic cell death like the effect of A_β treatment. Conversely, in cells in which the FUNDC1 was transiently overexpressed by FUNDC1-Myc transfection, overexpression itself had no effect on the mitochondrial functional integrity and cell survival but showed a significant prevention effect against mitochondrial and cell injury caused by A_β treatment. Overall, these results suggest that the FUNDC1 is importantly involved in the A_β-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and cell injury in the HT-22 neuronal cells.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.343-347
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• 2014

The present study investigated the effects of Vaccinium uliginosum L. (bilberry) on the learning and memory impairments induced by amyloid-${\beta}$ protein ($A{\beta}P$) 1-42. ICR Swiss mice were divided into 4 groups: the control ($A{\beta}40$-1A), control with 5% bilberry group ($A{\beta}40$-1B), amyloid ${\beta}$ protein 1-42 treated group ($A{\beta}1$-42A), and $A{\beta}1$-42 with 5% bilberry group ($A{\beta}1$-42B). The control was treated with amyloid ${\beta}$-protein 40-1 for placebo effect, and Alzheimer's disease (AD) group was treated with amyloid ${\beta}$-protein 1-42. Amyloid ${\beta}$-protein 1-42 was intracerebroventricular (ICV) micro injected into the hippocampus in 35% acetonitrile and 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid. Although bilberry added groups tended to decrease the finding time of hidden platform, no statistical significance was found. On the other hand, escape latencies of $A{\beta}P$ injected mice were extended compared to that of $A{\beta}40$-1. In the Probe test, bilberry added $A{\beta}1$-42B group showed a significant (P<0.05) increase of probe crossing frequency compared to $A{\beta}1$-42A. Administration of amyloid protein ($A{\beta}1$-42) decreased working memory compared to $A{\beta}40$-1 control group. In passive avoidance test, bilberry significantly (P<0.05) increased the time of staying in the lighted area compared to AD control. The results suggest that bilberry may help to improve memory and learning capability in chemically induced Alzheimer's disease in experimental animal models.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.105-112
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• 2014

The present study investigated an ethanol extract (SSB) of a mixture of three medicinal plants of Vitis amurensis, Aralia cordata, and Glycyrrhizae radix for possible neuroprotective effects on neurotoxicity induced by Amyloid ${\beta}$ protein ($A{\beta}$) (25-35) in cultured rat cortical neurons and antidementia activity in mice. Exposure of cultured cortical neurons to $15{\mu}M$ $A{\beta}$ (25-35) for 36 h induced neuronal apoptotic death. At $1-30{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, SSB inhibited neuronal death, elevation of intracellular calcium concentration ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$), and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by $A{\beta}$ (25-35) in cultured cortical neurons. Memory impairment and increase of acetylcholinesterase activity induced by intracerebroventricular injection of mice with 16 nmol $A{\beta}$ (25-35) was inhibited by chronic treatment with SSB (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg, p.o., for 8 days). From these results, it is suggested that antidementia effect of SSB is due to its neuroprotective effect against $A{\beta}$ (25-35)-induced neurotoxicity and that SSB may have a therapeutic role in preventing the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2012

The present study investigated an ethanol extract of Chaenomeles sinensis fruit (CSF) for possible neuroprotective effects on neurotoxicity induced by amyloid ${\beta}$ protein ($A{\beta}$) (25-35) in cultured rat cortical neurons and also for antidementia activity in mice. Exposure of cultured cortical neurons to $10{\mu}M\;A{\beta}$ (25-35) for 36 h induced neuronal apoptotic death. At $0.1-10{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, CSF inhibited neuronal death, elevation of intracellular calcium concentration ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$), and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by $A{\beta}$ (25-35) in primary cultures of rat cortical neurons. Memory loss induced by intracerebroventricular injection of mice with 15 nmol $A{\beta}$ (25-35) was inhibited by chronic treatment with CSF (10, 25 and 50 mg/kg, p.o. for 7 days) as measured by a passive avoidance test. CSF (50 mg/kg) inhibited the increase of cholinesterase activity in $A{\beta}$ (25-35)-injected mice brain. From these results, we suggest that the antidementia effect of CSF is due to its neuroprotective effect against $A{\beta}$ (25-35)-induced neurotoxicity and that CSF may have a therapeutic role for preventing the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.283-288
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• 2020

Although the evolution of Arabidopsis thaliana and humans diverged approximately 1.6 billion years ago, recent studies have demonstrated that protein function and cellular processes involved in disease response remain remarkably conserved. Particularly, γ-secretase, a multisubunit protein complex that participates in intramembrane proteolysis (RIP) regulation, is also known to mediate the cleavage of more than 80 substrates including the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and the Notch receptor. Although the genes (PS1/2, APH-1, PEN-2, and NCT) coding for the γ-secretase complex components are present in plant genomes, their function remains largely uncharacterized. Given that the deposition of 42 amino acid long amyloid-β peptides (hAβ₄₂) is thought to be one of the main causes of Alzheimer's disease, we aimed to examine the physiological effects of hAβ₄₂ peptides on plants. Interestingly, we found that Arabidopsis protoplast death increased after 24 h of exposure to 3 or 5 µM hAβ₄₂ peptides. Furthermore, transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing the hAβ₄₂ gene exhibited changes in primary root length and silique phyllotaxy. Taken together, our results demonstrate that hAβ₄₂ peptides, a metazoan protein, significantly affect Arabidopsis protoplast viability and plant morphology.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.134-140
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• 2015

The present study aims to investigate the effect of methanol extract of Korean mistletoe (KM; Viscum album var. coloratum), on amyloid $\beta$ protein ($A\beta$) (25-35), a synthetic 25-35 amyloid peptide, -induced neurotoxicity in cultured rat cerebral cortical neurons and memory impairment in mice. Exposure of cultured neurons to $10{\mu}M$ $A\beta$ (25-35) for 24 h induced a neuronal cell death, which was measured by a 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and Hoechst 33342 staining. KM (10, 30 and $50{\mu}g/ml$) significantly inhibited the $A\beta$ (25-35)-induced apoptotic neuronal death. KM ($50{\mu}g/ml$) inhibited 10 μM Aβ (25-35)-induced elevation of intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca²⁺]_i), which was measured by a fluorescent dye, Fluo-4 AM. Glutamate release into medium and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by $10{\mu}M$ $A\beta$ (25-35) were also inhibited by KM (10, 30 and $50{\mu}g/ml$). These results suggest that KM may mitigate the $A\beta$ (25-35)-induced neurotoxicity by interfering with the increase of [Ca²⁺]_i and then inhibiting glutamate release and generation of ROS in cultured neurons. In addition, orally administered KM (25 and 50 mg/kg, 7 days) significantly prevented memory impairment induced by intracerebroventricular injection of $A\beta$ (25-35) (8 nmol). Taken together, it is suggested that anti-dementia effect of KM is due to its neuroprotective effect against $A\beta$ (25-35)-induced neurotoxicity and that KM may have therapeutic role in prevention of the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.18-23
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• 2011

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by neuronal loss and extracellular senile plaques containing $\beta$-amyloid peptide (A$\beta$). The deposition of the A$\beta$ peptide following proteolytic processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP) by $\beta$-secretase (BACE1) and $\gamma$-secretase is a critical feature in the progression of AD. Among the plant extracts tested, the ethanol extract of Petasites japonicus leaves showed novel protective effect on B103 neuroblastoma cells against neurotoxicity induced by A$\beta$, as well as a strong suppressive effect on BACE1 activity. Ethanol extracts of P. japonicus leaves were sequentially extracted with methylene chloride, ethyl acetate and butanol and evaluated for potential to inhibit BACE1, as well as to suppress A$\beta$-induced neurotoxicity. Exposure to A$\beta$ significantly reduced cell viability and increased apoptotic cell death. However, pretreatment with ethyl acetate fraction of P. japonicus leaves prior to A$\beta$ (50 ${\mu}M$) significantly increased cell viability (p<0.01). In parallel, cell apoptosis triggered by A$\beta$ was also dramatically inhibited by ethyl acetate fraction of P. japonicus leaves. Moreover, the ethyl acetate fraction suppressed caspase-3 activity to the basal level at 30 ppm. Taken together, these results demonstrated that P. japonicus leaves appear to be a useful source for the inhibition and/or prevention of AD by suppression of BACE1 activity and attenuation of A$\beta$ induced neurocytotoxicity.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.21-23
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• 2022

High-pressure (HP) NMR is a powerful method to elucidate various structural features of amyloidogenic proteins. Following the previous mini-review recapitulating the HP-NMR application for amyloid-β peptides of the last issue [J. H. Kim, J. Kor. Mag. Reson. Soc. 26, 17 (2022)], the recent advancements in the HP NMR application for α-synuclein (α-Syn) are briefly summarized and discussed here. Although α-Syn is a well-known intrinsically disordered protein (IDP), several studies have shown that it can also exhibit heterogeneous yet partially folded conformations, which may correlate with its amyloid-forming propensity. HP NMR has been a valuable tool for investigating the dynamic and transient structural features of α-Syn and has provided unique insights to appreciate its aggregation-prone characters.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.38.1-38.9
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• 2018

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a disturbing and advanced neurodegenerative disease and is characterized pathologically by the accumulation of amyloid beta ($A{\beta}$) and the hyperphosphorylation of tau proteins in the brain. The deposition of $A{\beta}$ aggregates triggers synaptic dysfunction, and neurodegeneration, which lead to cognitive disorders. Here, we found that FF isolated from an eatable perennial brown seaweed E.bicyclis protect against $A{\beta}$-induced neurotoxicity in neuroblastoma cells stably transfected with two amyloid precursor protein (APP) constructs: the APP695 cDNA (SH-SY5Y-APP695swe). The FF demonstrated strong inhibitory activity for ${\beta}$-secretase ($IC_{50}$ $16.1{\mu}M$) and its inhibition pattern was investigated using Lineweaver-Burk and Dixon plots, and found to be non-competitive. Then, we tested whether FF could inhibit production of $A{\beta}$ in SH-SY5Y-APP695swe. FF inhibited the production of $A{\beta}$ and soluble-APP, residue of APP from cleaved APP by ${\beta}$-secretase. Our data show that FF can inhibit the production of $A{\beta}$ and soluble-$APP{\beta}$ via inhibition of ${\beta}$-secretase activity. Taken together these results suggest that FF may be worthy of future study as an anti-AD treatment.