Morin Attenuated Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury Through Promoting Angiogenesis Mediated by Angiopoietin-1-Tie-2 Axis and Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway

Therapeutic Potential of Natural Compounds from Herbs and Nutraceuticals in Alleviating Neurological Disorders: Targeting the Wnt Signaling Pathway

As an important signaling pathway in multicellular eukaryotes, the Wnt signaling pathway participates in a variety of physiological processes. Recent studies have confirmed that the Wnt signaling pathway plays an important role in neurological disorders such as stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. The regulation of Wnt signaling by natural compounds in herbal medicines and nutraceuticals has emerged as a potential strategy for the development of new drugs for neurological disorders. Purpose: The aim of this review is to evaluate the latest research results on the efficacy of natural compounds derived from herbs and nutraceuticals in the prevention and treatment of neurological disorders by regulating the Wnt pathway in vivo and in vitro. A manual and electronic search was performed for English articles available from PubMed, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect from the January 2010 to February 2023. Keywords used for the search engines were "natural products,″ "plant derived products,″ "Wnt+ clinical trials,″ and "Wnt+,″ and/or paired with "natural products″/″plant derived products", and "neurological disorders." A total of 22 articles were enrolled in this review, and a variety of natural compounds from herbal medicine and nutritional foods have been shown to exert therapeutic effects on neurological disorders through the Wnt pathway, including curcumin, resveratrol, and querctrin, etc. These natural products possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and angiogenic properties, confer neurovascular unit and blood-brain barrier integrity protection, and affect neural stem cell differentiation, synaptic formation, and neurogenesis, to play a therapeutic role in neurological disorders. In various in vivo and in vitro studies and clinical trials, these natural compounds have been shown to be safe and tolerable with few adverse effects. Natural compounds may serve a therapeutic role in neurological disorders by regulating the Wnt pathway. This summary of the research progress of natural compounds targeting the Wnt pathway may provide new insights for the treatment of neurological disorders and potential targets for the development of new drugs.

Recent advances in tissue repair of the blood-brain barrier after stroke

The selective permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) enables the necessary exchange of substances between the brain parenchyma and circulating blood and is important for the normal functioning of the central nervous system. Ischemic stroke inflicts damage upon the BBB, triggering adverse stroke outcomes such as cerebral edema, hemorrhagic transformation, and aggravated neuroinflammation. Therefore, effective repair of the damaged BBB after stroke and neovascularization that allows for the unique selective transfer of substances from the BBB after stroke is necessary and important for the recovery of brain function. This review focuses on four important therapies that have effects of BBB tissue repair after stroke in the last seven years. Most of these new therapies show increased expression of BBB tight-junction proteins, and some show beneficial results in terms of enhanced pericyte coverage at the injured vessels. This review also briefly outlines three effective classes of approaches and their mechanisms for promoting neoangiogenesis following a stroke.

Astragaloside IV promotes angiogenesis by targeting SIRT7/VEGFA signaling pathway to improve brain injury after cerebral infarction in rats

Cerebral infarction (CI) has become one of the leading causes of death and acquired disability worldwide. Astragaloside IV (AST IV), one of the basic components of Astragalus membranaceus, has a protective effect on CI. However, the underlying mechanism has not been conclusively elucidated. Therefore, this study aims to explore the underlying mechanism of AST IV improving brain injury after CI. Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) were used to simulate cerebral infarction injury in SD rats and HUVECs cells. Neurologic score, Evans blue, TTC and HE staining were used to observe brain injury in rats. Cell viability and migration were measured in vitro. Angiogenesis was detected by immunofluorescence and tube formation assay, and cell cycle was detected by flow cytometry. Western blot was used to find the expression of related proteins. Molecular docking, virtual mutation, site-directed mutagenesis, MST, and lentivirus silencing were used for target validation. The results showed that AST IV alleviated neurological impairment and promoted angiogenesis after CI. Moreover, AST IV greatly increased the transcription levels of SIRT6 and SIRT7, but had no effect on SIRT1-SIRT5, and promoted cell viability, migration, angiogenesis and S phase ratio in OGD/R-induced HUVECs. Furthermore, AST IV up-regulated the protein expressions of CDK4, cyclin D1, VEGFA and VEGF2R. Interestingly, AST IV not only bound to SIRT7, but also increased the expression of SIRT7. Silencing SIRT7 by lentivirus neutralizes the positive effects of AST IV. Taken together, the present study revealed that AST IV may improve brain tissue damage after CI by targeting SIRT7/VEGFA signaling pathway to promote angiogenesis.

Acute aflatoxin B1-induced hepatic and cardiac oxidative damage in rats: Ameliorative effects of morin

Aflatoxins (AFs) are secondary metabolites produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus, of which Aflatoxin-B1 (AFB1) appears to be the most cancerogenic and of the highest toxicity. AFB1 causes serious effects on several organs including the liver. Morin is a flavonol that exists in many fruits and plants and has diverse biological properties including anticancer, anti-atherosclerotic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and multi-organ protective activities. The present study aims to evaluate the potential protective effects of morin against acute AFB1-induced hepatic and cardiac toxicity in rats. Forty rats were divided into five groups (n = 8) as follows: control received the vehicle, morin was orally administered 30/mg/kg body weight (MRN30), the AFB1 was administered orally at a dose of 2.5 mg/kg, twice on days 12 and 14 of the experiment for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th groups., AFB1-MRN15 was orally given morin at a dose of 15 mg/kg body weight, and AFB1-MRN30 orally received morin at 30 mg/kg body weight. The results indicated a significant decrease in serum AST, ALP, LDH, GGT, CK, CK-MB, 8-OHdG, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-a levels in MRN30 compared to AFB1, and AFB1-MRN15 groups. However, the results indicated non-significant differences in the serum levels between MRN30, control, and AFB1-MRN30 groups. Meanwhile, regarding the hepatic and cardiac parameters, there were significant differences in the levels of MDA, NO, GSH, GSH-Px, SOD, and CAT in MRN30 compared to AFB1, and AFB1-MRN15 groups, overall implying the protective effects of morin. To conclude, morin at a dose of 30 mg/kg b. wt. showed significant enhancements in acute AFB1-induced hepatic and cardiac toxicity in rats, which could play a role in limiting the public health hazards of AFs.

PFT-α protects the blood-brain barrier through the Wnt/β-catenin pathway after acute ischemic stroke

The dysfunction of blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays a pivotal role in brain injury and subsequent neurological deficits of ischemic stroke. The current study aimed to examine the potential correlation between p53 inhibition and the neuroprotective effect of on the BBB. Rat middle cerebral artery occlusion and reperfusion model (MCAO/R) and oxygen-glucose deprivation/re-oxygenation model (OGD/R) were employed to simulate cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (CI/R) injury occurrence in vivo and in vitro. mNSS and TTC staining were applied to evaluate neurological deficits and brain infarct volumes. Evans blue (EB) staining was carried out to examine the permeability of BBB. RT-qPCR and Western blot to examine the mRNA and protein levels. Cell viabilities were detected by CCK-8. Flow cytometry and ELISA assay were employed to examine apoptosis and neuroinflammation levels. TEER value and sodium fluorescein were carried out to explore the permeability of HBMEC cells. PFT-α inhibited P53 and promoted the expression of β-catenin and cyclin D1, which were reversed by DKK1. PFT-α inhibited neurological deficits, brain infarct volume, neuroinflammation, apoptosis, and BBB integrity than the MCAO/R rats; however, this inhibition was reversed by DKK1. PFT-α promoted OGD/R-induced cell viability in NSCs, and suppressed inflammation and apoptosis, but DKK1 weakened the effect of PFT-α. PFT-α increased OGD/R-induced TEER values in cerebrovascular endothelial cells, inhibited sodium fluorescein permeability, and increased the mRNA levels of tight junction protein, but they were all attenuated by DKK1. PFT-α protects the BBB after acute ischemic stroke via the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, which in turn improves neurological function.

Elabela-APJ axis mediates angiogenesis via YAP/TAZ pathway in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury

Angiogenesis helps to improve neurological recovery by repairing damaged brain tissue and restoring cerebral blood flow (CBF). The role of the Elabela (ELA)-Apelin receptor (APJ) system in angiogenesis has gained much attention. We aimed to investigate the function of endothelial ELA on postischemic cerebral angiogenesis. Here, we demonstrated that the endothelial ELA expression was upregulated in the ischemic brain and treatment with ELA-32 mitigated brain injury and enhanced the restoration of CBF and newly formed functional vessels following cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Furthermore, ELA-32 incubation potentiated proliferation, migration, and tube formation abilities of the mouse brain endothelial cells (bEnd.3 cells) under oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) condition. RNA sequencing analysis indicated that ELA-32 incubation had a role in the Hippo signaling pathway, and improved angiogenesis-related gene expression in OGD/R-exposed bEnd.3 cells. Mechanistically, we depicted that ELA could bind to APJ and subsequently activate YAP/TAZ signaling pathway. Silence of APJ or pharmacological blockade of YAP abolished the pro-angiogenesis effects of ELA-32. Together, these findings highlight the ELA-APJ axis as a potential therapeutic strategy for ischemic stroke by showing how activation of this pathway promotes poststroke angiogenesis.

Targeting Non-Coding RNA for CNS Injuries: Regulation of Blood-Brain Barrier Functions

Central nervous system (CNS) injuries are the most common cause of death and disability around the world. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is located at the interface between the CNS and the surrounding environment, which protects the CNS from exogenous molecules, harmful agents or microorganisms in the blood. The disruption of BBB is a common feature of CNS injuries and participates in the pathological processes of secondary brain damage. Recently, a growing number of studies have indicated that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play an important role in brain development and are involved in CNS injuries. In this review, we summarize the mechanisms of BBB breakdown after CNS injuries. We also discuss the effects of ncRNAs including long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) on BBB damage in CNS injuries such as ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). In addition, we clarify the pharmacotherapies that could regulate BBB function via ncRNAs in CNS injuries, as well as the challenges and perspectives of ncRNAs on modulation of BBB function. Hence, on the basis of these effects, ncRNAs may be developed as therapeutic agents to protect the BBB for CNS injury patients.