Mechanism of astragaloside Ⅳ in regulating autophagy of PC12 cells under oxygen-glucose deprivation by medicating Akt/mTOR/HIF-1α pathway / 中国中药杂志

This study explored the protective effect of astragaloside Ⅳ(AS-Ⅳ) on oxygen-glucose deprivation(OGD)-induced autophagic injury in PC12 cells and its underlying mechanism. An OGD-induced autophagic injury model in vitro was established in PC12 cells. The cells were divided into a normal group, an OGD group, low-, medium-, and high-dose AS-Ⅳ groups, and a positive drug dexmedetomidine(DEX) group. Cell viability was measured using the MTT assay. Transmission electron microscopy was used to observe autophagosomes and autolysosomes, and the MDC staining method was used to assess the fluorescence intensity of autophagosomes. Western blot was conducted to determine the relative expression levels of functional proteins LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ, Beclin1, p-Akt/Akt, p-mTOR/mTOR, and HIF-1α. Compared with the normal group, the OGD group exhibited a significant decrease in cell viability(P<0.01), an increase in autophagosomes(P<0.01), enhanced fluorescence intensity of autophagosomes(P<0.01), up-regulated Beclin1, LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ, and HIF-1α(P<0.05 or P<0.01), and down-regulated p-Akt/Akt and p-mTOR/mTOR(P<0.05 or P<0.01). Compared with the OGD group, the low-and medium-dose AS-Ⅳ groups and the DEX group showed a significant increase in cell viability(P<0.01), decreased autophagosomes(P<0.01), weakened fluorescence intensity of autophagosomes(P<0.01), down-regulated Beclin1, LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ, and HIF-1α(P<0.05 or P<0.01), and up-regulated p-Akt/Akt and p-mTOR/mTOR(P<0.01). AS-Ⅳ at low and medium doses exerted a protective effect against OGD-induced autophagic injury in PC12 cells by activating the Akt/mTOR pathway, subsequently influencing HIF-1α. The high-dose AS-Ⅳ group did not show a statistically significant difference compared with the OGD group. This study provides a certain target reference for the prevention and treatment of OGD-induced cellular autophagic injury by AS-Ⅳ and accumulates laboratory data for the secondary development of Astragali Radix and AS-Ⅳ.

Mechanism of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells alleviating ischemia-reperfusion injury of hepatocytes through mitochondrial transfer / 器官移植

Objective To explore the mechanism of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell (HUC-MSC) alleviating ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) of liver cells through mitochondrial transfer. Methods Normal human liver cell line L02 was divided into the blank control group, oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) group, experimental control group, and L02 and HUC-MSC co-culture group (L02+HUC-MSC group). L02+HUC-MSC group was further divided into 10:1 co-culture subgroup (group A), 4:1 co-culture subgroup (group B), 2:1 co-culture subgroup (group C), 1:1co-culture subgroup (group D) and 1:2 co-culture subgroup (group E) according to different co-culture ratio of L02 and HUC-MSC. The apoptosis rate and relative reactive oxygen species (ROS) level of L02 cells were detected by flow cytometry. The MitoTracker positive rate of L02 cells was detected by flow cytometry. The mitochondrial transfer from HUC-MSC to L02 cells was observed by laser confocal microscope. Results The apoptosis rate and relative ROS level of L02 cells in the OGD group were significantly higher than those in the blank control group (both P < 0.05). Compared with the OGD group, the apoptosis rates of L02 cells in group B, C, D and E were significantly decreased (all P < 0.05), and the relative ROS level of L02 cells in group E was significantly declined (P < 0.05). The MitoTracker positive rate of L02 cells did not significantly differ between group A and experimental control group (P>0.05), whereas the MitoTracker positive rates of L02 cells in group B, C, D and E were significantly higher than that in the experimental control group in a concentration-dependent manner (all P < 0.05). Under the laser confocal microscope, mitochondrial transfer fromHUC-MSC to L02 cells could be observed through tunneling nanotube (TNT). Conclusions HUC-MSC may alleviate cell apoptosis and reduce ROS level of liver cells after IRI via direct mitochondrial transfer between cells.