ABSTRACT
<p><b>AIM</b>To study the effects of ginkgolides (Gin) on the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (H1F-1alpha) in primary cultured cortical neurons treated with CoCl2 and the relationship with ERK signal pathway.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We observed the effects of Gin (37.5 mg/L) on morphology and viability on primary cultured cortical neurons with treatment of CoCl2 (125 micromol/L). The expression of HIF-1alpha and p-ERK of neurons induced by CoCl2 pretreated with Gin were assessed by Western-blot. We analyzed the relationship between HIF-1alpha expression activated by Gin and ERK signal pathway with treatment of PD98059 (100 micromol/L), a selective inhibitor of ERK.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>It was shown that Gin had protective effects on CoCl2 damaged neurons by raising the neuronal viability. Some basic expression of HIF-1alpha and p-ERK were observed in normal cultured cortical neurons. The expression of HIF-1alpha and p-ERK increased strikingly when treated with CoCl2 for 4 h. The levels of HIF-1alpha and p-ERK increased even more in the neurons pretreated with Gin for 24 h before CoCl2. The levels of HIF-1alpha and p-ERK were notably inhibited with pretreatment of PD98059, while Gin could prevent this inhibition.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Gin has protective effects on neurons damaged by CoCl2 which might be related to the increase of the level of HIF-1alpha and the activation of ERK signal pathway.</p>