An integrated microfluidics for assessing the anti-aging effect of caffeic acid phenethylester in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Aging is a fundamental and fascinating process. Anti-aging research tried to find the mysteries about the human lifespan. To investigate the longevity-extending role of caffeic acid phenethylester (CAPE) and reveal the possible regulation mechanism, the long-term cultivation under well-defined environments, real-time monitoring, and live imaging is highly desired. In this paper, a well-designed microfluidic device was proposed to analyze the anti-aging effect of CAPE in Caenorhabditis elegans. With the combined use of multiple functional units, including micro-pillar, worm responder, a branching network of distribution channels, and microchambers, the longitudinal measurements of the exact number of worms throughout the whole lifespans is possible. Meanwhile, the brief cooling function of temperature-controllable system can achieve temporary and repeated immobilization of nematodes for fluorescence imaging. Our research data showed that CAPE can increase the survival of worms under normal and stress condition, including heat stress and paraquat-induced oxidative stress. The further studies revealed the anti-aging mechanism of CAPE. This proposed strategy and device would be a useful platform to facilitate future anti-aging studies and the finding of new lead compounds.

UHPLC-MS-MS high throughput analysis-based screening and evaluation of PXR/CYP3A4-induced lipid-regulating quality marker in propolis / 中草药

Objective: To screen and evaluate PXR/CYP3A4-induced lipid-regulating quality marker in propolis with precise and quantitative method. Methods: The LS174T cell was given certain amount of midazolam injection, along with different dosage of known components found in propolis, after incubation and extraction, the samples were determined for 1’-OH-midazolam, and each compound was evaluated to discover the PXR/CYP3A4 pathway regulatory activity according to the results; Then, compounds selected were used as indexes for UHPLC-MS-MS content determination, and their own values were regarded as a preliminary step of confirming PXR/CYP3A4-induced lipid-regulating quality markers of propolis. Results: In all components tested, chrysin, galangin, heterochlorogenic acid A, quercetin, and caffeic acid phenethylester significantly affected the 1’-OH-midazolam yield compared with blank and positive control, indicating their obvious influence on PXR/CYP3A4 expression; The UHPLC-MS-MS determination showed that except galangin, heterochlorogenic acid A, and quercetin, all the other compounds had adequate content in propolis to take effect. Conclusion: Chrysin, galangin, caffeic acid phenethylester, and quercetin were probably defined as PXR/CYP3A4-induced lipid-regulating quality marker in propolis, which inhibited the expression of such targets to down-regulate blood lipid level; Additionally, the method used for quality marker screening and evaluation in this study was fast, effective and quantitative, and capable of carrying out high throughput active component screening for PXR/CYP3A4 regulatory activities.

Study on protective effect and mechanism of caffeic acid phenethylester in rats with doxorubicin-induced myocardial injury / 中国生化药物杂志

Objective To study protective effect and mechanism of caffeic acid phenethyl ester ( CAPE ) in rats with doxorubicin-induced myocardial injury.Methods Sixty male SD rats were randomly divided into control group, model group and CAPE ( 12、24、48 mg/kg ) groups.The models of doxorubicin-induced myocardial injury were established by injection of 2.5 mg/kg doxorubicin every other day for 6 times.After the last injection, model group was given distilled water and CAPE ( 12、24、48 mg/kg ) groups were fed with CAPE, one time a day for 8 weeks.After consecutive 8 weeks, serum creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase and BNP were assessed , NO concentration, MDA,GSH,SOD,NOS,LPO and CAT contents in the heart were determined and histopathological changes were detected.Results serum creatine kinase、lactate dehydrogenase and BNP of CAPE 48 mg/kg group decreased significantly(P<0.05), while the activity of NO,NOS,GSH,CAT and SOD increased in the CAPE 48 mg/kg group significantly ( P<0.05 ) .Histopathology showed caffeic acid phenethyl ester could improve the doxorubicin-induced myocardium injury. Conclusion caffeic acid phenethylester has the protective effects in rats with doxorubicin-induced myocardial injury.Protective effect may be related to improve myocardial against oxidative stress damage.

Arsenic augments the uptake of oxidized LDL by upregulating the expression of lectin-like oxidized LDL receptor in mouse aortic endothelial cells.

Although chronic arsenic exposure is a well-known risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, the molecular mechanism underlying arsenic-induced atherosclerosis remains obscure. Therefore, this study aimed to elucidate this molecular mechanism. We examined changes in the mRNA level of the lectin-like oxidized LDL (oxLDL) receptor (LOX-1) in a mouse aortic endothelial cell line, END-D, after sodium arsenite (SA) treatment. SA treatment significantly upregulated LOX-1 mRNA expression; this finding was also verified at the protein expression level. Flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy analyses showed that the cellular uptake of fluorescence (Dil)-labeled oxLDL was significantly augmented with SA treatment. In addition, an anti-LOX-1 antibody completely abrogated the augmented uptake of Dil-oxLDL. We observed that SA increased the levels of the phosphorylated forms of nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B cells (NF-κB)/p65. SA-induced upregulation of LOX-1 protein expression was clearly prevented by treatment with an antioxidant, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), or an NF-κB inhibitor, caffeic acid phenethylester (CAPE). Furthermore, SA-augmented uptake of Dil-oxLDL was also prevented by treatment with NAC or CAPE. Taken together, our results indicate that arsenic upregulates LOX-1 expression through the reactive oxygen species-mediated NF-κB signaling pathway, followed by augmented cellular oxLDL uptake, thus highlighting a critical role of the aberrant LOX-1 signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of arsenic-induced atherosclerosis.

IL-1ß induces GFAP expression in vitro and in vivo and protects neurons from traumatic injury-associated apoptosis in rat brain striatum via NFκB/Ca²âº-calmodulin/ERK mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway.

Reactive astrogliosis, a feature of neuro-inflammation is induced by a number of endogenous mediators including cytokines. Despite interleukin-1 beta (IL-1ß) stands out as the major inducer of this process, the underlying mechanism and its role on neuronal viability remain elusive. We investigated in human astrocytoma cells and the rat brain striatum, the role of the nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB) intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)]i) calmodulin (CaM) and extracellular regulated mitogen-activated protein kinases (ERK1/2) in IL-1ß-induced expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neuronal apoptosis associated to a brain trauma. Cell data showed that IL-1ß (1 ng/ml) increased NF-kB, pERK1/2 and GFAP expression. Nevertheless, further increase in IL-1ß levels reversed progressively these responses. Preventing ERK1/2 activation with 1,4-diamino-2,3-dicyano-1,4-bis[2-aminophenylthiol]-butadiene antagonized IL-1ß-induced GFAP expression while inhibiting selectively nuclear translocation of NF-kB with caffeic-acid phenethyl-ester down-regulated both ERK1/2 and GFAP expression induced by IL-1ß. The GFAP response was also prevented by antagonizing selectively increase in [Ca(2+)]i, CaM activity or inducible nitric oxide synthase expression with respectively ryanodine plus 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl-borate, N-(6-aminohexyl)-5-chloro-1-naphthalensulfonamide hydrochloride and N-[(3-(aminomethyl)-phenyl]methyl]-ethanimidamide dihydrochloride. Data in vivo supported these findings and showed that GFAP expression induced by IL-1ß (50 ng/ml) correlated with attenuated glial scar formation and reduced neuronal apoptosis. Our data identified the NF-kB/Ca(2+)-CaM/ERK signaling pathway as a novel in vivo key regulator of IL-1ß-induced astrogliosis which may represent a potential target in neurodegeneration.