Berberine attenuated the cytotoxicity induced by t-BHP via inhibiting oxidative stress and mitochondria dysfunction in PC-12 cells

• Published in: Cellular and molecular neurobiology 2020-05, Vol.40 (4), p.587-602
• Main Authors: Li, Zhengmao, Jiang, Ting, Lu, Qi, Xu, Ke, He, Jianping, Xie, Lei, Chen, Zaifeng, Zheng, Zhilong, Ye, Luxia, Xu, Kebin, Zhang, Hongyu, Hu, Aiping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 1-Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; AKT protein; Animals; Antioxidants; Apoptosis; Autophagy; Bcl-2 protein; Berberine; Berberine - pharmacology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Butyl hydroperoxide; Cell Biology; Cell death; Cell Death - drug effects; Chromones - pharmacology; Cytochrome c; Cytochromes c - metabolism; Cytotoxicity; L-Lactate dehydrogenase; Lactic acid; Lysosomes - drug effects; Lysosomes - metabolism; Membrane potential; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial - drug effects; Microtubule-Associated Proteins - metabolism; Mitochondria; Mitochondria - drug effects; Mitochondria - metabolism; Mitochondria - pathology; Mitophagy - drug effects; Morpholines - pharmacology; Neurobiology; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurosciences; Neurotoxicity; Original Research; Oxidation; Oxidative stress; Oxidative Stress - drug effects; PC12 Cells; Phagocytosis; Phosphorylation; Rats; Reactive oxygen species; Signal transduction; Signal Transduction - drug effects; tert-Butylhydroperoxide - toxicity; TOR protein; Traditional Chinese medicine
• ISSN: 0272-4340; 1573-6830; 1573-6830
• DOI: 10.1007/s10571-019-00756-7

Neurodegenerative diseases all share several common features such as involvement of oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction in pathogenesis. Oxidative stress induced by overproduction of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) or impairment of the antioxidant deficiency results in mitochondrial dysfunction and initiation of the cell death cascade. Berberine (BBR), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been reported to exert anti-oxidative stress and anti-apoptosis effect in CNS diseases. However, the mechanism of BBR on regulating mitophagy and protecting mitochondrial function under oxidative stress remains unclear. In present study, we evaluated the beneficial effects of BBR on the tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP)-induced cytotoxicity. Furthermore, we explored the protective role of BBR in mitochondrial function and mitophagy under oxidative stress in PC-12 cells. Our results demonstrated that BBR effectively inhibited t-BHP-induced apoptosis which is associated with the decreased leakage of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and ROS overproduction. Moreover, BBR significantly suppressed cytochrome c expression, upregulated the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax, and ameliorated mitochondrial dysfunction by optimizing mitochondria membrane potential (ΔΨm) status and ATP production. In addition, BBR reduced the expression of autophagy-specific marker LC3, SQTM1/p62, and maintained lysosome normal function which involved the restoration of upstream signaling pathway AKT and mTOR phosphorylation level. Collectively, these findings suggested that BBR protects PC-12 cells from oxidative injury through inhibiting ROS level, mitochondria dysfunction, and mitophagy via PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathways, which suggest a potential therapeutic strategy for oxidative stress and neurotoxic damages.