Autophagy in neurological diseases: An update

Eucommia ulmoides Olive Male Flower Extracts Ameliorate Alzheimer's Disease-Like Pathology in Zebrafish via Regulating Autophagy, Acetylcholinesterase, and the Dopamine Transporter

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neural disorder. However, the therapeutic agents for AD are limited. Eucommia ulmoides Olive (EUO) is widely used as a traditional Chinese herb to treat various neurodegenerative disorders. Therefore, we investigated whether the extracts of EUO male flower (EUMF) have therapeutic effects against AD. We focused on the flavonoids of EUMF and identified the composition using a targeted HPLC-MS analysis. As a result, 125 flavonoids and flavanols, 32 flavanones, 22 isoflavonoids, 11 chalcones and dihydrochalcones, and 17 anthocyanins were identified. Then, the anti-AD effects of the EUMF were tested by using zebrafish AD model. The behavioral changes were detected by automated video-tracking system. Aβ deposition was assayed by thioflavin S staining. Ache activity and cell apoptosis in zebrafish were tested by, Acetylcholine Assay Kit and TUNEL assay, respectively. The results showed that EUMF significantly rescued the dyskinesia of zebrafish and inhibited Aβ deposition, Ache activity, and occurrence of cell apoptosis in the head of zebrafish induced by AlCl₃. We also investigated the mechanism underlying anti-AD effects of EUMF by RT-qPCR and found that EUMF ameliorated AD-like symptoms possibly through inhibiting excessive autophagy and the abnormal expressions of ache and slc6a3 genes. In summary, our findings suggested EUMF can be a therapeutic candidate for AD treatment.

Autophagy activation promotes the effect of iPSCs-derived NSCs on bladder function restoration after spinal cord injury

The role of autophagy in the transplantation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)-derived neural stem cells (NSCs) to treat spinal cord injury (SCI) and neurogenic bladder was investigated in this study. NSCs derived from human iPSCs were identified by and immunofluorescence assay. To clarify the role of autophagy, iPSCs were treated with either an autophagy inducer (rapamycin), or an autophagy inhibitor (chloroquine). Cell Counting kit-8 (CCK-8), western blot and flow cytometry were used to detect the effect of autophagy on the viability and differentiation of iPSCs. Sixty Wistar rats were selected to establish the SCI model and treated with iPSCs-derived NSCs transplantation. The effect of autophagy on the bladder function of rats with different treatments was evaluated by Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) score, bladder function score, bladder weight measurement, Hematoxylin & Eosin (H&E) staining, and Masson staining. The results of in vitro experiment showed that rapamycin enhanced the cell activity of iPSCs, increased the number of nestin positive cells, up-regulated Beclin-1 and LC3BI/II expressions, and down-regulated p62 expression. And the results of in vivo experiment showed that rapamycin improved exercise ability and bladder function, partially restored bladder weight, and significantly reduced bladder tissue damage in SCI rats. However, chloroquine showed the opposite results. The differentiation of iPSCs into NSCs could be promoted by induced autophagy, while neurogenic bladder of SCI was restored by autophagy activation.