The protective effect of non-invasive low intensity pulsed electric field and fucoidan in preventing oxidative stress-induced motor neuron death via ROCK/Akt pathway

• Published in: PloS one 2019-03, Vol.14 (3), p.e0214100-e0214100
• Main Authors: Hsieh, Chih-Hsiung, Lu, Chueh-Hsuan, Kuo, Yu-Yi, Lin, Guan-Bo, Chao, Chih-Yu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AKT protein; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Animals; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomedical engineering; Care and treatment; Cell adhesion & migration; Cell cycle; Cell death; Cell Death - drug effects; Cell Line; Degeneration; Disease; Drug metabolism; EDTA; Electric fields; Electric Stimulation Therapy; Engineering; Free radicals; Fucoidan; Health aspects; Health physics; Health risks; Humans; Hydrogen peroxide; Kinases; Medical research; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metabolism; Mice; Motor Neurons - metabolism; Motor Neurons - pathology; Motors; Nervous system; Nervous system diseases; Neuroblastoma; Neurodegeneration; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurodegenerative Diseases - metabolism; Neurodegenerative Diseases - pathology; Neurodegenerative Diseases - therapy; Neurological diseases; Neurons; Neurophysiology; Novels; Oxidative stress; Oxidative Stress - drug effects; Pathogenesis; Phosphorylation; Physics; Polysaccharides - pharmacology; Proteins; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt - metabolism; Public health; Research and Analysis Methods; rho-Associated Kinases - metabolism; Risk factors; ROCK protein; Rocks; Signal Transduction - drug effects; Signs and symptoms; Spinal cord; Therapeutic applications; Ultrasound
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214100

With the expansion of the aged population, it is predicted that neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) will become a major threat to public health worldwide. However, existing therapies can control the symptoms of the diseases at best, rather than offering a fundamental cure. As for the complex pathogenesis, clinical and preclinical researches have indicated that oxidative stress, a central role in neuronal degeneration, is a possible therapeutic target in the development of novel remedies. In this study, the motor neuron-like cell line NSC-34 was employed as an experimental model in probing the effects induced by the combination of non-invasive low intensity pulsed electric field (LIPEF) and fucoidan on the H2O2-induced neuron damage. It was found that single treatment of the LIPEF could protect the NSC-34 cells from oxidative stress, and the protective effect was enhanced by combining the LIPEF and fucoidan. Notably, it was observed that single treatment of the LIPEF obviously suppressed the H2O2-enhanced expression of ROCK protein and increased the phosphorylation of Akt in the H2O2-treated NSC-34 cells. Moreover, the LIPEF can be easily modified to concentrate on a specific area. Accordingly, this technique can be used as an advanced remedy for ROCK inhibition without the drawback of drug metabolism. Therefore, we suggest the LIPEF would be a promising strategy as a treatment for motor neurodegeneration and warrant further probe into its potential in treating other neuronal degenerations.