Effect of Yishen Daluo Prescription on Rho/ROCK Signaling Pathway in EAE Mice Based on Silencing of β-arrestin1 / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of Yishen Daluo prescription （YSDL） on Ras homolog（Rho）/Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase（ROCK）signaling pathway in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis （EAE） based on the silencing of β-arrestin1 gene. MethodSixty C57BL/6 female mice were randomly divided into a blank group， a model group， a virus group， a YSDL group， a virus + YSDL group， and a prednisone acetate group （hormone group）. The EAE model was induced in mice except for those in the normal group. Adeno-associated virus（AAV）solution （150 μL， 1×1011 vg·mL-1） was injected into the tail vein of each mouse in the virus group and the virus + YSDL group on the 4th day of immunization. Drugs were administered on the 8th day of modeling. Specifically， normal saline was given to the mice in the normal group，the model group，and the virus group at 10 mL∙kg-1， prednisone acetate suspension to those in the hormone group at 3.9 g∙kg-1，and YSDL to those in other groups at 20 g∙kg-1 for 14 consecutive days. The mice were weighed and scored every day. The neurological function scores of mice in each group were recorded every day after immunization. Hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining was used to determine the inflammatory response and lesion location in the brain tissues and spinal cord tissues of mice. The protein expression of β-arrestin1，Ras homolog gene family member A（RhoA）， and Rho-associated coiled-coil forming protein kinase Ⅰ（ROCK Ⅰ） in spinal cord and brain tissues of EAE mice was determined by Western blot. ResultCompared with the model group， the virus group and the virus + YSDL group showed decreased neurological function scores （P<0.01），and the YSDL group also showed decreased neurological function scores（P<0.05）. HE results showed that there was obvious inflammatory reaction in the central nervous system （CNS） of the model group， which was alleviated to varying degrees in other groups compared with the model group. Western blot results showed that compared with the blank group， the model group showed increased protein expression levels of β-arrestin1， RhoA， and ROCK Ⅰ in the spinal cord tissues （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the virus group， the YSDL group， the virus + YSDL group， and the hormone group showed decreased protein expression levels of β-arrestin1， RhoA， and ROCKⅠ in the spinal cord tissues （P<0.01）. Compared with the blank group， the model group showed increased protein expression levels of β-arrestin1， RhoA， and ROCK Ⅰ in the brain tissues （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the virus group， the YSDL group， the virus + YSDL group， and the hormone group showed decreased protein expression level of β-arrestin1 in the brain tissues （P<0.01）， and the virus group and the YSDL group showed decreased protein expression levels of RhoA， and ROCKⅠ in the brain tissues （P<0.05）. Additionally， the virus + YSDL group and the hormone group showed decreased protein expression levels of RhoA and ROCKⅠ in the brain tissues （P<0.01）. ConclusionYSDL can improve the clinical symptoms of EAE mice and improve the inflammatory response of CNS. The mechanism is presumably attributed to the fact that YSDL inhibits the expression of β-arrestin1 in CNS，thereby reducing the expression of Rho/ROCK signaling pathway. Furthermore， YSDL may have a synergistic effect with the inhibition of β-arrestin1 gene expression.