ABSTRACT
TNF-α has recently been identified to be a mediator of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death, while glial cells are relatively protected against this death stimulus. Exposure of RGCs to TNF-α is thought to contribute to RGC apoptosis. Apigenin is a flavone with powerful anti-inflammatory properties that exists naturally in various plants and Chinese medicine. In our study, MTT assays showed that apigenin significantly inhibited the decrease of RGC viability induced by TNF-α in a dose-dependent manner. Pretreatment with apigenin prevented TNF-α-induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner as shown by flow cytometry. The production of ATP and the total oxygen uptake were also promoted after apigenin administration. TNF-α stimulation led to a significant reduction of bcl-2 and enhancement of bax, which was reversed by apigenin treatment. Apigenin treatment also alleviated the increased caspase-3 activity induced by TNF-α. Moreover, luciferase reporter assay indicated that apigenin dose-dependently decreased NF-κB activation induced by TNF-α, but had no significant effect on activation of AP-1. Collectively, these data demonstrated that apigenin alleviated TNF-α-induced apoptosis through inhibition of caspase-dependent apoptotic pathway and activation of nuclear factor-kappaB. Therefore, apigenin may be developed as an anti-apoptotic drug to treat retinopathy.
Subject(s)
Anti-Inflammatory Agents/pharmacology , Apigenin/pharmacology , Apoptosis/drug effects , Retinal Ganglion Cells/drug effects , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/immunology , Animals , Cells, Cultured , NF-kappa B/immunology , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Retinal Ganglion Cells/immunologyABSTRACT
Porcine teschovirus 1 (PTV-1) (Swine/CH/IMH/03) was isolated from piglets in a farm in Inner Mongolia Province, P.R. China. It was confirmed by electron microscopy, RT-PCR, and sequencing. Comparison of the sequences of the amino acid and nucleotides and phylogenetic analysis of the polyprotein showed that PTV Swine/CH/IMH/03 strain is PTV-1. The isolated virus has closest relationship with Talfan strain, they shared 98.9% and 99.5% homology of amino acids and nucleotides, respectively, in the ORF of polyprotein. To our knowledge, this is the first report about isolation and identification of a PTV in China.
