Neuronal regulated cell death in aging-related neurodegenerative diseases: key pathways and therapeutic potentials.

Regulated cell death (such as apoptosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, autophagy, cuproptosis, ferroptosis, disulfidptosis) involves complex signaling pathways and molecular effectors, and has been proven to be an important regulatory mechanism for regulating neuronal aging and death. However, excessive activation of regulated cell death may lead to the progression of aging-related diseases. This review summarizes recent advances in the understanding of seven forms of regulated cell death (RCD) in age-related diseases. Notably, the newly identified ferroptosis and cuproptosis have been implicated in the risk of cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative diseases. These forms of cell death exacerbate disease progression by promoting inflammation, oxidative stress, and pathological protein aggregation. The review also provides an overview of key signaling pathways and crosstalk mechanisms among these RCD forms, with a focus on ferroptosis, cuproptosis, and disulfidptosis. For instance, FDX1 directly induces cuproptosis by regulating copper ion valency and dihydrolipoamide S-acetyltransferase (DLAT) aggregation, while copper mediates glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) degradation, enhancing ferroptosis sensitivity. Additionally, inhibiting the Xc- transport system to prevent ferroptosis can increase disulfide formation and shift the NADP+/NADPH ratio, transitioning ferroptosis to disulfidptosis. These insights help to uncover the potential connections among these novel RCD forms and differentiate them from traditional RCD mechanisms. In conclusion, identifying key targets and their crosstalk points among various RCD pathways may aid in developing specific biomarkers to reverse the aging clock and treat age-related neurodegenerative conditions.

A joint entity Relation Extraction method for document level Traditional Chinese Medicine texts.

Chinese medicine is a unique and complex medical system with complete and rich scientific theories. The textual data of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) contains a large amount of relevant knowledge in the field of TCM, which can serve as guidance for accurate disease diagnosis as well as efficient disease prevention and treatment. Existing TCM texts are disorganized and lack a uniform standard. For this reason, this paper proposes a joint extraction framework by using graph convolutional networks to extract joint entity relations on document-level TCM texts to achieve TCM entity relation mining. More specifically, we first finetune the pre-trained language model by using the TCM domain knowledge to obtain the task-specific model. Taking the integrity of TCM into account, we extract the complete entities as well as the relations corresponding to diagnosis and treatment from the document-level medical cases by using multiple features such as word fusion coding, TCM lexicon information, and multi-relational graph convolutional networks. The experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. It has an F1-score of 90.7% for Name Entity Recognization and 76.14% for Relation Extraction on the TCM dataset, which significantly improves the ability to extract entity relations from TCM texts. Code is available at https://github.com/xxxxwx/TCMERE.

Nur77 increases mitophagy and decreases aggregation of α-synuclein by modulating the p-c-Abl/p-PHB2 Y121 in α-synuclein PFF SH-SY5Y cells and mice.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the progressive death of dopamine (DA) neurons and the pathological accumulation of α-synuclein (α-syn) fibrils. In our previous study, simulated PHB2 phosphorylation was utilized to clarify the regulatory role of c-Abl in PHB2-mediated mitophagy in PD models. In this investigation, we employed an independently patented PHB2Y121 phosphorylated antibody in the PD model to further verify that the c-Abl inhibitor STI571 can impede PHB2Y121 phosphorylation, decrease the formation of α-Syn polymers, and improve autophagic levels. The specific involvement of Nur77 in PD pathology has remained elusive. We also investigate the contribution of Nur77, a nuclear transcription factor, to α-syn and mitophagy in PD. Our findings demonstrate that under α-syn, Nur77 translocates from the cytoplasm to the mitochondria, improving PHB-mediated mitophagy by regulating c-Abl phosphorylation. Moreover, Nur77 overexpression alleviates the expression level of pS129-α-syn and the loss of DA neurons in α-syn PFF mice, potentially associated with the p-c-Abl/p-PHB2 Y121 axis. This study provides initial in vivo and in vitro evidence that Nur77 protects PD DA neurons by modulating the p-c-Abl/p-PHB2 Y121 axis, and STI571 holds promise as a treatment for PD.

A novel mechanism of PHB2-mediated mitophagy participating in the development of Parkinson's disease.

JOURNAL/nrgr/04.03/01300535-202408000-00037/figure1/v/2023-12-16T180322Z/r/image-tiff Endoplasmic reticulum stress and mitochondrial dysfunction play important roles in Parkinson's disease, but the regulatory mechanism remains elusive. Prohibitin-2 (PHB2) is a newly discovered autophagy receptor in the mitochondrial inner membrane, and its role in Parkinson's disease remains unclear. Protein kinase R (PKR)-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) is a factor that regulates cell fate during endoplasmic reticulum stress. Parkin is regulated by PERK and is a target of the unfolded protein response. It is unclear whether PERK regulates PHB2-mediated mitophagy through Parkin. In this study, we established a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced mouse model of Parkinson's disease. We used adeno-associated virus to knockdown PHB2 expression. Our results showed that loss of dopaminergic neurons and motor deficits were aggravated in the MPTP-induced mouse model of Parkinson's disease. Overexpression of PHB2 inhibited these abnormalities. We also established a 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridine (MPP+)-induced SH-SY5Y cell model of Parkinson's disease. We found that overexpression of Parkin increased co-localization of PHB2 and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3, and promoted mitophagy. In addition, MPP+ regulated Parkin involvement in PHB2-mediated mitophagy through phosphorylation of PERK. These findings suggest that PHB2 participates in the development of Parkinson's disease by interacting with endoplasmic reticulum stress and Parkin.

The key roles of reactive oxygen species in microglial inflammatory activation: Regulation by endogenous antioxidant system and exogenous sulfur-containing compounds.

Aberrant innate immunity in the brain has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several central nervous system (CNS) disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and depression. Except for extraparenchymal CNS-associated macrophages, which predominantly afford protection against peripheral invading pathogens, it has been reported that microglia, a population of macrophage-like cells governing CNS immune defense in nearly all neurological diseases, are the main CNS resident immune cells. Although microglia have been recognized as the most important source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the CNS, ROS also may underlie microglial functions, especially M1 polarization, by modulating redox-sensitive signaling pathways. Recently, endogenous antioxidant systems, including glutathione, hydrogen sulfide, superoxide dismutase, and methionine sulfoxide reductase A, were found to be involved in regulating microglia-mediated neuroinflammation. A series of natural sulfur-containing compounds, including S-adenosyl methionine, S-methyl-L-cysteine, sulforaphane, DMS, and S-alk(enyl)-l-cysteine sulfoxide, modulating endogenous antioxidant systems have been discovered. We have summarized the current knowledge on the involvement of endogenous antioxidant systems in regulating microglial inflammatory activation and the effects of sulfur-containing compounds on endogenous antioxidant systems. Finally, we discuss the possibilities associated with compounds targeting the endogenous antioxidant system to treat neuroinflammation-associated diseases.

Menstrually-related migraine shapes the structural similarity network integration of brain.

Menstrually-related migraine (MM) is a primary migraine in women of reproductive age. The underlying neural mechanism of MM was still unclear. In this study, we aimed to reveal the case-control differences in network integration and segregation for the morphometric similarity network of MM. Thirty-six patients with MM and 29 healthy females were recruited and underwent MRI scanning. The morphometric features were extracted in each region to construct the single-subject interareal cortical connection using morphometric similarity. The network topology characteristics, in terms of integration and segregation, were analyzed. Our results revealed that, in the absence of morphology differences, disrupted cortical network integration was found in MM patients compared to controls. The patients with MM showed a decreased global efficiency and increased characteristic path length compared to healthy controls. Regional efficiency analysis revealed the decreased efficiency in the left precentral gyrus and bilateral superior temporal gyrus contributed to the decreased network integration. The increased nodal degree centrality in the right pars triangularis was positively associated with the attack frequency in MM. Our results suggested MM would reorganize the morphology in the pain-related brain regions and reduce the parallel information processing capacity of the brain.

Rutin Attenuates Oxidative Stress Via PHB2-Mediated Mitophagy in MPP+-Induced SH-SY5Y Cells.

Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the occurrence and development of Parkinson's disease (PD). Rutin, a natural botanical ingredient, has been shown to have antioxidant properties. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of rutin on PD and the underlying mechanisms. MPP+(1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ions)-treated SH-SY5Y cells were used as an in vitro model of PD. Human PHB2-shRNA lentiviral particles were transfected into SH-SY5Y cells to interfere with the expression of Prohibitin2 (PHB2). The oxidative damage of cells was analyzed by detecting intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Western blotting was used to detect the protein expression of antioxidant factors such as nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), NADPH quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO-1), and mitophagy factors PHB2, translocase of outer mitochondrial membrane 20 (TOM20), and LC3II/LC3I (microtubule-associated protein II light chain 3 (LC3II) to microtubule-associated protein I light chain 3 (LC3I)). In addition, we also examined the expression of PHB2 and LC3II/LC3I by immunofluorescence staining. MPP+ treatment significantly increased the generation of ROS and MDA and the level of MMP depolarization and decreased the protein expression of Nrf2, HO-1, NQO1, TOM20, PHB2, and LC3II/LC3I. In MPP+-treated SH-SY5Y cells, rutin significantly decreased the generation of ROS and MDA and the level of MMP depolarization and increased the protein expression of Nrf2, HO-1, NQO-1, TOM20, PHB2, and LC3II/LC3I. However, the protective role of rutin was inhibited in PHB2-silenced cells. Rutin attenuates oxidative damage which may be associated with PHB2-mediated mitophagy in MPP+-induced SH-SY5Y cells. Rutin might be used as a potential drug for the prevention and treatment of PD.

Artemisinin Alleviates Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion-Induced Oxidative Damage via Regulating PHB2-Mediated Autophagy in the Human Neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y Cell Line.

Oxidative stress plays a key role in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury. Artemisinin (ART) has antioxidative stress activity in addition to its powerful antimalarial effects. In this article, we investigated the effect of ART on OGD/R-induced oxidative stress injury and its underlying mechanisms. We used oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) to establish an in vitro model of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. CCK-8 and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release were used to assess cellular damage. Measurement of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) estimates oxidative stress-induced damage and protection from ART effect. OGD/R treatment aggravated oxidative stress damage, whereas ART reversed the effects of OGD/R. Autophagy is closely related to oxidative stress; in order to confirm whether the antioxidative stress effect of ART is related to PHB2-mediated autophagy, we examined the protein expression of prohibitin 2 (PHB2), TOMM20, p62, and the conversion of microtubule-associated protein light chain 3I (LC3I) to LC3II and found that the protein expression of PHB2, TOMM20, p62, and LC3II/LC3I was significantly correlated with OGD/R treatment. The colocalization of PHB2 and LC3, TOMM20, and LC3 was reduced after OGD/R treatment, and ART reversed this change. After silencing PHB2, the protective effect of ART against OGD/R-induced oxidative stress injury was reduced, the protein expressions of PHB2, TOMM20 and LC3II/LC3I and the colocalization of PHB2 and LC3, TOMM20, and LC3 were decreased. We used chloroquine to block the lysosomal pathway and found that ART increased the conversion of LC3I to LC3II, silencing PHB2 which inhibited the conversion of LC3I to LC3II, and impaired mitophagy. Our findings showed that ART attenuated OGD/R-induced oxidative stress damage through PHB2-mediated mitophagy. To the current knowledge, our study is the first to demonstrate that ART attenuates OGD/R-induced oxidative stress injury through PHB2-mediated autophagy in the human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line, which provided new insights into the treatment of OGD/R injury.

Nonreceptor Tyrosine Kinase c-Abl-Mediated PHB2 Phosphorylation Aggravates Mitophagy Disorder in Parkinson's Disease Model.

Mitophagy and oxidative stress play important roles in Parkinson's disease (PD). Dysregulated mitophagy exacerbates mitochondrial oxidative damage; however, the regulatory mechanism of mitophagy is unclear. Here, we provide a potential mechanistic link between c-Abl, a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase, and mitophagy in PD progression. We found that c-Abl activation reduces the interaction of prohibitin 2 (PHB2) and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) and decreases the expressive level of antioxidative stress proteins, including nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), NADPH quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO-1), and the antioxidant enzyme heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium- (MPP+-) lesioned SH-SY5Y cells. Importantly, we found that MPP+ can increase the expression of phosphorylated proteins at the tyrosine site of PHB2 and the interaction of c-Abl with PHB2. We showed for the first time that PHB2 by changing tyrosine (Y) to aspartate (D) at site 121 resulted in impaired binding of PHB2 and LC3 in vitro. Moreover, silencing of PHB2 can decrease the interaction of PHB2 and LC3 and exacerbate the loss of dopaminergic neurons. We also found that STI 571, a c-Abl family kinase inhibitor, can decrease dopaminergic neuron damage and ameliorate MPTP-induced behavioral deficits in PD mice. Taken together, our findings highlight a novel molecular mechanism for aberrant PHB2 phosphorylation as an inhibitor of c-Abl activity and suggest that c-Abl and PHB2 are potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of individuals with PD. However, these results need to be further validated in PHB2 Y121D mice.

Melatonin Treatment for Sleep Disorders in Parkinson's Disease: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: The efficacy of melatonin on sleep disorders in Parkinson's disease (PD) is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of melatonin on sleep disorders in PD by summarizing evidence from randomized clinical trials (RCTs). METHODS: PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases were searched for studies published before 20 August 2021. Results were analyzed using Review Manager 5.2 software. We used Trial Sequential Analysis (TSA) software to avoid false-positive results caused by random errors. RESULTS: We included 7 studies in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The results of the meta-analysis showed that compared with placebo, the subjective sleep quality of patients with PD significantly improved after melatonin treatment (MD = -2.19, 95% CI: -3.53 to -0.86, P = 0.001). In the systematic review, we qualitatively analyzed the efficacy of melatonin on the objective sleep quality of patients with PD, and the results showed that melatonin exerted a positive effect with good safety and tolerability. However, there was no significant improvement in excessive daytime sleepiness assessed by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). CONCLUSION: We found that melatonin can significantly improve the subjective and objective sleep quality of patients with PD with good safety and tolerability. Melatonin could be considered an effective treatment for insomnia in patients with PD.

Autophagy-Dependent Ferroptosis-Related Signature is Closely Associated with the Prognosis and Tumor Immune Escape of Patients with Glioma.

BACKGROUND: Ferroptosis is an autophagy-dependent form of cell death, sometimes called "ferritinophagy". Its related pathway has been proven to regulate the programmed death of glioma stem cells. Mining autophagy-dependent ferroptosis-related gene (AD-FRG) signature could facilitate the discovery of mechanisms and therapeutic targets showing drug resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. METHODS: We exhaustively searched HADB, MSigDB and FerrDb datasets and obtained 25 genes confirmed to exist in autophagy and ferroptosis death pathways. Glioma gene expression and clinicopathological data were collected from TCGA and CGGA datasets. RESULTS: Lasso regression and Cox regression analysis were carried out to construct a nine AD-FRGs signature (SIRT1, MTDH, HSPB1, CISD2, HMOX1, ATG7, MTOR, PRKAA2 and EIF2AK4). ROC curve showed that nine genes signature could effectively predict 1- (AUC = 0.869), 3- (AUC = 0.922) and 5-year (AUC = 0.870) survival rates. Immunohistochemical images confirmed the protein expression level of the gene model. The prognostic nomogram of risk score, age, WHO grade, isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) wild-type condition, 1p/19q co-deletion state was built. The calibration curve demonstrated that the prediction of the nomogram is highly consistent with the actual results. Moreover, tumor microenvironment analysis showed that the high-risk group was associated with high immune infiltration status and high tumor purity. Correlation analysis showed that the expression of SIRT1, CISD2 and HSPB1 might be related to macrophage infiltration and immunotolerance in glioma tissues. CONCLUSION: Based on autophagy-dependent ferroptosis-related genes, we established gene signature and nomogram that maybe effectively predict the overall survival rate of glioma and correlate with the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME).

Efficacy and Safety of Light Therapy as a Home Treatment for Motor and Non-Motor Symptoms of Parkinson Disease: A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND Non-visual effects of the retina have been increasingly confirmed in developing Parkinson disease (PD). Light therapy (LT) has been proven to be an effective non-pharmacotherapy for improving the prognosis of PD, but the pathway of action is unclear, and there is a lack of a unified and standardized LT regimen. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of various LT measures in improving motor and non-motor symptoms in patients with idiopathic PD via a meta-analysis. MATERIAL AND METHODS CENTRAL, EMBASE, CINAHL, PEDro, and PubMed were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the efficacy of LT for PD. Cochrane's Risk of bias tool and the GRADE approach were used to assess evidence quality. A meta-analysis and subgroup analyses evaluated the differences in efficacy produced by the different LT protocols. Trial sequential analysis (TSA) verified the analyses outcome and quantified the statistical relevance of the data.[color=#0e101a] [/color] RESULTS Patients receiving LT had significantly better scores for motor function (MD=-4.68, 95% Cl -8.25 to -1.12, P=0.01) compared with the control group exposed to dim-red light. In addition, in terms of non-motor symptoms, depression (SMD=-0.27, 95% Cl -0.52 to -0.02, P=0.04) and sleep disturbance-related scores (MD=3.45, 95% Cl 0.12 to 6.78, P=0.04) similarly showed significant optimization after receiving LT. CONCLUSIONS The results of this meta-analysis show strong evidence that LT has significant efficacy on motor and non-motor function in PD patients.

Idebenone improves motor dysfunction, learning and memory by regulating mitophagy in MPTP-treated mice.

The progression of Parkinson's disease (PD) is often accompanied by the loss of substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons, mitophagy damage, learning, and memory impairment. Idebenone is a therapeutic drug that targets the mitochondria of neurodegenerative diseases, but its role in Parkinson's disease and its pathological mechanism are still unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether idebenone could improve behavioral disorders, especially motor, learning, and memory disorders, in mouse PD models and to explore its molecular mechanism. In the present study, C57BL-6 mice underwent intraperitoneal injection of MPTP (30 mg/kg) once a day for five consecutive days. Then, a 200 mg/kg dose was given as a single daily gavage of idebenone dissolved in water for 21 days after the successful establishment of the subacute MPTP model. Motor, learning, and memory were measured by a water maze and a rotarod test. Our results showed that idebenone could reduce MPTP-induced dopaminergic neuron damage and improve movement disorders, memory, and learning ability, which may be associated with upregulating mitochondrial autophagy-related outer membrane proteins VDAC1 and BNIP3 and activating the Parkin/PINK1 mitochondrial autophagy pathway. To confirm whether idebenone promotes the smooth progression of autophagy, we used eGFP-mCherry-LC3 mice to construct a subacute model of Parkinson's disease and found that idebenone can increase autophagy in dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease. In summary, our results confirm that idebenone can regulate the expression of the mitochondrial outer membrane proteins VDAC1 and BNIP3, activate Parkin/PINK1 mitophagy, promote the degradation of damaged mitochondria, reduce dopaminergic neuron damage, and improve behavioral disorders in Parkinson's disease mice.

Efficacy and Safety of Rotigotine Transdermal Patch on Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease: An Updated Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.

Objective: The effects of rotigotine transdermal patch (RTG) on the neuropsychiatric symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) outcomes remain controversial. The aim of this review was to determine the efficacy and safety of RTG on the neuropsychiatric symptoms of PD. Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Web of Science were searched for randomized controlled trials comparing RTG and placebo in PD up to May 10, 2021. We analyzed the data using Review Manager 5.2 software. The quality of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation Approach. In order to avoid false-positive results caused by random error, we use TSA software for trial sequential analysis (TSA). Results: We included 10 studies (1,844 patients). The meta-analysis showed that, compared with placebo, RTG can significantly improve the scores for Apathy Scale (MD = -1.68, 95% confidence interval, CI: -2.74 to -0.62, P = 0.002; moderate certainty), Beck Depression Inventory-II (MD = -1.19, 95% CI: -2.26 to -0.11, P = 0.03; moderate certainty), the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (MD = -3. 66, 95% CI: -4. 30 to -3.01, P < 0.00001; moderate certainty), the sleep/fatigue domains of the Parkinson's Disease Non-motor Symptom Assessment Scale (MD = -2.03, 95% CI: -3.08 to -0.98, P = 0.0001; moderate certainty), the mood/apathy domains of the Non-motor Symptom Scale (MD = -2.48, 95% CI: -4.07 to -0.89, P = 0.002; high certainty), the eight-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (MD = -4. 93, 95% CI: -6.79 to -3.07, P < 0.00001; moderate certainty), and the 39-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (MD = -3.52, 95% CI: -5.25 to -1.79, P < 0.0001; high certainty). However, there was no statistically significant difference on the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (MD = -0.12, 95% CI: -0.58 to 0.34, P = 0.61). Our results showed that RTG exerts a positive effect on sleep. According to the TSA, the results implied that, except for the Beck Depression Inventory-II, conclusive evidence have been obtained in the RTG group. It has been proven in our meta-analysis that rotigotine has good safety and tolerability. Conclusions: RTG can effectively improve the neuropsychiatric symptoms, sleep quality, and quality of life in patients with PD.

Pharmacological Interventions for REM Sleep Behavior Disorder in Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review.

To review the therapeutic effects of drugs on REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) in Parkinson's disease (PD) by searching the MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and CBM databases. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, studies were included after excluding duplicate data. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of pharmacological intervention to improve RBD in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD-RBD). This systematic review mainly describes the drugs that can be used to treat PD-RBD patients. The results have shown that melatonin can be used as the first-line drug for PD-RBD, and clonazepam provides significant improvement on PD-RBD, androtigotine can be used as an alternative drug. However, further large-scale clinical trial studies are still needed to provide the best guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of PD-RBD.

Artemisinin attenuated oxidative stress and apoptosis by inhibiting autophagy in MPP+-treated SH-SY5Y cells.

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. The oxidative stress is an important component of the pathogenesis of PD. Artemisinin (ART) has antioxidant and neuroprotective effects. The purpose of this study is to explore the neuroprotective effect of ART on 1-methyl-4-phenyliodine iodide (MPP +)-treated SH-SY5Y cells and underlying mechanism. METHODS: We used MPP+-treated SH-SY5Y cells to study the neuroprotective effect of ART. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay after incubating the cells with MPP+ and/or ART for 24 h. DCFH-DA was used to detect the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), and WST-8 was used to detect the level of superoxide dismutase (SOD). The level of intracellular reduced glutathione (GSH) was detected with 5,5΄-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid), and the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) was assessed based on the reaction of MDA and thiobarbituric acid. A mitochondrial membrane potential detection kit (JC-1) was used to detect changes in the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and an Annexin V-FITC cell apoptosis kit was used to detect cell apoptosis. The expression levels of caspase-3, cleaved caspase-3 and the autophagy-related proteins LC3, beclin-1, and p62 were detected by Western blotting. In addition, to verify the change in autophagy, we used immunofluorescence to detect the expression of LC3 and p62. RESULTS: No significant cytotoxicity was observed at ART concentrations up to 40 µM. ART could significantly increase the viability of SH-SY5Y cells treated with MPP+ and reduce oxidative stress damage and apoptosis. In addition, the Western blotting and immunofluorescence results showed that MPP+ treatment could increase the protein expression of beclin1 and LC3II/LC3I and decrease the protein expression of p62, indicating that MPP+ treatment could induce autophagy. Simultaneous treatment with ART and MPP+ could decrease the protein expression of beclin1 and LC3II/LC3I and increase the protein expression of p62, indicating that ART could decrease the level of autophagy induced by MPP+. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that ART has a protective effect on MPP+-treated SH-SY5Y cells by the antioxidant, antiapoptotic activities and inhibition of autophagy. Our findings may provide new hope for the prevention and treatment of PD.

A novel missense pathogenic variant in NEFH causing rare Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy type 2CC.

The purpose of this research is to explore the underlying genes of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT). Technologies such as electrophysiological testing and gene sequencing have been applied. We identified a novel variant NEFH c.2215C>T(p.P739S)(HGNC:7737) in a heterozygous state, which was considered to be pathogenic for CMT2CC(OMIM:616924).The proband and his brothers presented with muscle atrophy of hand and calf and moderately decreased conduction velocities. By whole exome sequencing analysis, we found the novel missense pathogenic variant in the proband, his brother and mother. This report broadened current knowledge about intermediate CMT and the phenotypic spectrum of defects associated with NEFH. In addition, the proband carried other five variants {HSPD1c.695C>A (p.S232X), FLNCc.1073A>G (p.N358S), GUSBc.323C>A (p.P108Q), ACY1 c.1063-1G>A and APTX c.484-2A>T}, which have not been reported until now. The NEFH c.2215C>T (p.P739S) give us a new understanding of CMT, which might provide new therapeutic targets in the future.

Atorvastatin improves motor function, anxiety and depression by NOX2-mediated autophagy and oxidative stress in MPTP-lesioned mice.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by the loss of dopaminergic neurons. It is characterized by static tremors, stiffness, slow movements, and gait disturbances, but it is also accompanied by anxiety and depression. Our previous study showed that atorvastatin could reduce the risk of PD, but the mechanism is still unclear. In this paper, Our findings showed that atorvastatin increased muscle capacity and the coordination of movement and improved anxiety and depression. Atorvastatin could decrease the expression of α-synuclein Ser129 and NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2), increase the protein expression of LC3II/I, and promote autophagy flow. To further confirm that atorvastatin protection was achieved by inhibiting NOX2, we injected at midbrain with NOX2 shRNA (M) lentivirus and found that silent NOX2 produced the same effect as atorvastatin. Further research found that atorvastatin could reduce MPTP-induced oxidative stress damage, while inhibiting NOX2 decreased the antioxidative stress effect of atorvastatin. Our results suggest that atorvastatin can improve muscle capacity, anxiety and depression by inhibiting NOX2, which may be related to NOX2-mediated oxidative stress and autophagy. Atorvastatin may be identified as a drug that can effectively improve behavioral disorders. NOX2 may be a potential gene target for new drug development in PD.

Nur77 attenuates inflammatory responses and oxidative stress by inhibiting phosphorylated IκB-α in Parkinson's disease cell model.

Neuroinflammation and oxidative stress play key roles in the pathological development of Parkinson's disease (PD). Nerve growth factor-induced gene B (Nur77) is closely related to dopamine neurotransmission, and its pathogenesis is unclear. This study aims to investigate the role and mechanism of Nur77 in a cell model of Parkinson's disease. Silencing Nur77 with siRNA can aggravate intracellular LDH release, increase the expression of pro-inflammatory genes (such as tumor necrosis factor α, nuclear factor κB (p65), monocyte chemotactic protein 1, interleukin-6), and decrease cell survival, decrease expression of nuclear factor E2-related factor(Nrf2), heme oxygenase 1, NADPH quinineoxidoreductase-1. Cytosporone B (Nur77 agonist) has the opposite effect to Nur77 silencing. PDTC (NF-κB inhibitor / antioxidant) can also inhibit pro-inflammatory genes to a similar degree as Cytosporone B. Phosphorylated IκB-α can be inhibited by Cytosporone B, while silencing Nur77 can increase the protein expression level of phosphorylated IκB-α. After silencing IκB-α, both Cytosporone B and siNur77 did not affect pro-inflammatory genes and antioxidant stress. These findings reveal the first evidence that Nur77 exerts anti-inflammatory and antioxidant stress effects by inhibiting IκB-α phosphorylation expression in a Parkinson cell model. Nur77 may be a potential therapeutic target for Parkinson's disease.

Research Progress of Drug Treatment in Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia.

As of March 10, 2020, more than 100,000 novel coronavirus pneumonia cases have been confirmed globally. With the continuous spread of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic in even the world, prevention and treatment of the disease have become urgent tasks. The drugs currently being developed are not adequate to deal with this critical situation. In addition to being controlled through effective isolation, we need a rapid response from the healthcare and biotechnology industries to accelerate drug treatment research. By reviewing the currently available literature published at home and abroad, we summarize the current research progress of drug treatment during the epidemic period. At present, the drugs that can be used for treatment mainly include antiviral drugs, antimalarials, glucocorticoids, plasma therapy, biological agents, and traditional Chinese medicine. The effectiveness and safety of drug therapy need to be confirmed by more clinical studies.