• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.3 s.63
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• pp.27-42
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• 2005

Objectives : Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. These plaques are associated with degenerating neuronal processes and consist primarily of fibrillary aggregates of beta-amyloid$ protein, generated from amyloid precursor protein (APP). Another amyloidogenic fragment, the carboxyl terminus (CT) of APP, which is composed of 99-105 amino acid residues containing the complete $A{\beta}$ sequence, also appears to be toxic to neurones. Recent evidence suggest that CT105, carboxy terminal 105 amino acids peptide fragment of APP, may be an important factor causing neurotoxicity in AD. Methods : Although a variety of oriental prescriptions including Pinelliae rhizoma have traditionally been utilized for the treatment of AD, their pharmacological effects and action mechanisms have not yet been fully elucidated. In the present study, we investigated effects of the dichloromethane extract of Pinelliae rhizoma (PINR) on neurotoxicity and the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) in SK-N-SH cells overexpressed with CT105. In addition, we evaluated its radical scavenging activity and effects on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. Furthermore, effects on cognitive deficits induced by scopolamine treatment in rats were evaluated. Results ; We found in this study that PINR significantly inhibited apoptotic neuronal death induced by CT105 overexpression in SK-N-SH cells. Based on morphological examinations by phase-contrast microscopy, PINR reversed apoptotic changes of CT105-expressed cells. It was also found that PINR significantly promoted neurite outgrowth and inhibited formation of ROS nd NO. PINR was shown to scavenge DPPH radicals and noncompetitively inhibit AChE activity. Furthermore, it reduced scopolamine-induced memory impairment in rata, assessed by passive avoidance test. Conclusions : Taken together, these results demonstrate that PINR exhibits neuroprotective, antioxidant, and memory enhancing effects, and therefore may bs beneficial for the treatment of AD.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1371-1376
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• 2006

BACE 1 ($\beta$-secretase), a membrane bound aspartic protease, is a key enzyme in the process of amyloid precursor protein (APP) into A$\beta$ peptide which is considered to play a causative role in Alzheimers Disease (AD). Here, we reported the synthesis and inhibitory activity of optically active 3-amino-4-aryl-piperidines.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.271.2-271.2
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• 2003

The ${\gamma}$- and ${\beta}$-secretase are one of the most important proteases, which cleave amyloid precursor protein (APP) into neurotoxic A${\beta}$ peptide in Azheimer's type dementia. In the course of screening for anti-dementia agents from natural products, the mycelial culture of mushroom Phellinus linteus showed potent inhibition againt ${\beta}$-secretase (BACE1). (omitted)

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.132.1-132.1
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• 2003

Biphenyl dimethyl dicarboxylate (DDB) is a by-product produced in process of synthesizing Schizandrin-C. Generally, DDB has known to protect hepatocytes and to decrease the index of liver enzyme (e.g. GOT and GPT) in chronic hepatitis. The present study was aimed to demonstrate whether DDB can protect the brain cell, especially the Alzheimer brain in vitro. As Alzheimers disease can be induced by activated microglia, a macrophage in the brain, through Abeta peptide (A$\beta$) produced from amyloid precursor protein (APP). (omitted)

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.665-675
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• 2021

Background: Ginsenoside Rg1 (Rg1), an active ingredient in ginseng, may be a potential agent for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the protective effect of Rg1 on neurodegeneration in AD and its mechanism of action are still incompletely understood. Methods: Wild type (WT) and APP/PS1 AD mice, from 6 to 9 months old, were used in the experiment. The open field test (OFT) and Morris water maze (MWM) were used to detect behavioral changes. Neuronal damage was assessed by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Nissl staining. Immunofluorescence, western blotting, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) were used to examine postsynaptic density 95 (PSD95) expression, amyloid beta (Aβ) deposition, Tau and phosphorylated Tau (p-Tau) expression, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and NAPDH oxidase 2 (NOX2) expression. Results: Rg1 treatment for 12 weeks significantly ameliorated cognitive impairments and neuronal damage and decreased the p-Tau level, amyloid precursor protein (APP) expression, and Aβ generation in APP/PS1 mice. Meanwhile, Rg1 treatment significantly decreased the ROS level and NOX2 expression in the hippocampus and cortex of APP/PS1 mice. Conclusions: Rg1 alleviates cognitive impairments, neuronal damage, and reduce Aβ deposition by inhibiting NOX2 activation in APP/PS1 mice.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.101-132
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• 2007

Objective : This research investigates the effect of the NogYongDaeBoTang,(NYDBT) on Alzheimer's disease. Method : The effects of the NYDBT extract on (1) $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6, and $TNF-{\alpha}$ mRNA of PC-12 cells treated with LPS; (2) acetylcholinesterase(AChE), amyloid precursor proteins(APP), and glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP) mRNA the AChE activity and the APP production of PC-12 cell treated with CT-105; (3) the behavior; (4) expression of $IL-1{\beta}$, $TNF-{\alpha}$, MDA, $IL-1{\beta}$ mRNA, and $TNF-{\alpha}$ mRNA; (5) the infarction area of the hippocampus, and brain tissue injury in Alzheimer‘s diseased mice induced with ${\beta}A$ were investigated. Results : 1. The NYDBT extract suppressed the expression of $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6 and $TNF-{\alpha}$ mRNA in BV2 microglia cell line treated with LPS. 2. The NYDBT extract suppressed the expression of $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6, and $TNF-{\alpha}$ protein production in BV2 microglia cell line treated with LPS. 3. For the NYDBT extract group a significant inhibitory effect on the memory deficit was shown for the mice with Alzheimer's disease induced by $A{\beta}$ in the Morris water maze experiment, which measured stop-through latency, and distance movement-through latency. 4. The NYDBT extract suppressed the over-expression of $IL-1{\beta}$ protein, $TNF-{\alpha}$ protein, MDA, and CD68/CD11b, in the mice with Alzheimer's disease induced by $A{\beta}$. 5. The NYDBT extract reduced the infarction area of hippocampus, and controlled the injury of brain tissue in the mice with Alzheimer's disease induced by $A{\beta}$. 6. The NYDBT extract reduced the Tau protein, GFAP protein, and presenilin1/2 protein (immunohistochemistry) of hippocampus in the mice with Alzheimer's disease induced by $A{\beta}$. Conclusions : These results suggest that the NYDBT extract may be effective for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.1 s.81
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• pp.18-23
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• 2007

Fe65, a neuron-specific adaptor protein, has two phosphotyrosine binding (PTB) domains. The second PTB (PTB2) domain interacts with intracellular domain fragment (AICD) of amyloid beta precursor protein (APP). Recent studies suggested that tile complex is composed of AICD and Fe65 transactivates genes that are responsible for neuronal cell death in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Therefore, a compound inhibiting the interaction between Fe65 and AICD can be a drug candidate to treat AD. However, it remains unclear how Fe65 recognizes AICD at a molecular level. Here, we report high-level production of the PTB2 domain of Fe65 in the baculovirus system. We found that the baculovirus system is an efficient method to obtain the Fe65 PTB2 domain, compared with the bacterial and mammalian expression systems. The purified recombinant protein was used for crystallization to determine its crystal structure helping to understand the molecular mechanism of Fe65-dependent signaling and to design its inhibitors.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2015

Alzheimer's disease is a common form of dementia occurring among the elderly population and can be identified by symptoms such as cognition impairments, memory loss and neuronal dysfunction. Alzheimer's disease was found to be caused by the deposition of $\beta$-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. In addition, mutation in the APP (Amyloid precursor protein), Presenilin 1 (PSEN1) and Presenilin 2 (PSEN2) genes were also found to contribute to Alzheimer's disease. Since the potential conformational diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease requires histopathological tests on brain through autopsy, potential early diagnosis still remains challenging. In recent years, several researches have proposed the use of biomarkers for early diagnosis. In cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), $\beta$-amyloid(1-42), phosphorylated-tau and total tau were suggested to be effective biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis. However, a single biomarker might not be sufficient for potential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Thus, the use of RNA interference (RNAi) through microRNAs (miRNAs) has been proposed by several researchers for simultaneous analysis of several biomarkers using microarray technology. These miRNA based biomarkers can be analysed from both blood and CSF, but miRNAs from blood are advantageous over CSF as they are non-invasive and simple for collection. Moreover, the RNAi based therapeutics by siRNA (short interference RNA) or shRNA (short hairpin RNA) have also been proposed to be effective in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. This review describes the promising application of RNAi technology in therapeutics and as a biomarker for both Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and treatment.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.251-257
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• 2016

In this study, the radical scavenging activity and protective effect of ethanol extract from leaf of Engelhardtia chrysolepis HANCE (ECE) against oxidative stress were investigated under in vitro and cellular system. ECE showed strong radical scavenging activities in 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, hydroxyl(${\cdot}OH$) and nitric oxide(NO) radical as a concentration-dependent manner. Particularly, strong scavenging activity against the ${\cdot}OH$ and NO radical were observed with the $IC_{50}$ value of $1.30{\mu}g/ml$ and $12.61{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. Furthermore, the cellular oxidative stress was induced by amyloid beta($A{\beta}_{25-35}$) in C6 glial cells. The treatment of $A{\beta}_{25-35}$ to C6 glial cells generated high levels of reactive oxygen species(ROS) and declined cell viability. However, production of ROS was decreased by the treatment of ECE. In addition, the cell viability was significantly increased at each concentration(10, 25, $50{\mu}g/ml$) as dose-dependent manner. The Alzheimer's disease-related protein expressions in $A{\beta}_{25-35}$-treated C6 glial cells were analyzed. The ECE treatment inhibited expression of amyloid precursor protein(APP), C-terminal fragment-${\beta}(CTF-{\beta})$, ${\beta}$-site APP cleaving enzyme(BACE), phosphorylated tau(p-tau) proteins in C6 glial cells induced by $A{\beta}_{25-35}$. The present study indicated that ECE has strong radical scavenging activity and neuroprotective effect through attenuating oxidative stress.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.33-46
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• 2006

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of neurodegenerative disease associated with aging in the human population. This disease is characterized by the extracellular deposition of beta-amyloid peptide $(A{\beta})$ in cerebral plaques. $A{\beta}$ is derived from the ${\beta}-amyloid$ precursor protein (APP) by the enzymes, ${\beta}-$ and ${\eta}o-secretase$. Compounds that ${\beta}-$ or ${\eta}o-secretase$ inhibit activity, can reduce the production of $A{\beta}$ peptides, and thus have therapeutic potential in the treatment of AD. Increasing body of evidence has been demonstrated that Bee Venom(BV) Acupuncture could compete with complex protein involving in multiple step of $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation and exert the anti-inflammatory potential of combined inhibition of the prostanoid and nitric oxide synthesis systems by inhibition of IKK and $NF-{\kappa}B$. In this study, I investigated possible effects of BV on memory dysfunction caused by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and $A{\beta}$ through inhibition of secretases activities and $A{\beta}$ aggregation. I examined the improving effect of BV on the LPS (2.5 mg/Kg, i.p.)-induced memory dysfunction using passive avoidance response and water maze tests in the mice. BV (0.84, $1.67\;{\mu}g/ml$) reversed the LPS-induced memorial dysfunction in dose dependent manner. BV also dose-dependently attenuated LPS-induced ${\beta}$ and ${\eta}o-secretase$ activities in cerebral cortex and hippocampus of the mice brain. This study therefore suggests that BV acupuncture method may be useful for prevention of development or progression of AD.