Cerebroside-A provides potent neuroprotection after cerebral ischaemia through reducing glutamate release and Ca²⁺ influx of NMDA receptors

Multiple Metabolites Derived from Mushrooms and Their Beneficial Effect on Alzheimer's Diseases

Mushrooms with edible and medicinal potential have received widespread attention because of their diverse biological functions, nutritional value, and delicious taste, which are closely related to their rich active components. To date, many bioactive substances have been identified and purified from mushrooms, including proteins, carbohydrates, phenols, and vitamins. More importantly, molecules derived from mushrooms show great potential to alleviate the pathological manifestations of Alzheimer's disease (AD), which seriously affects the health of elderly people. Compared with current therapeutic strategies aimed at symptomatic improvement, it is particularly important to identify natural products from resource-rich mushrooms that can modify the progression of AD. This review summarizes recent investigations of multiple constituents (carbohydrates, peptides, phenols, etc.) isolated from mushrooms to combat AD. In addition, the underlying molecular mechanisms of mushroom metabolites against AD are discussed. The various mechanisms involved in the antiAD activities of mushroom metabolites include antioxidant and anti-neuroinflammatory effects, apoptosis inhibition, and stimulation of neurite outgrowth, etc. This information will facilitate the application of mushroom-derived products in the treatment of AD. However, isolation of new metabolites from multiple types of mushrooms and further in vivo exploration of the molecular mechanisms underlying their antiAD effect are still required.

Modulation of TRPV4 and BKCa for treatment of brain diseases

As a member of transient receptor potential family, the transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) is a kind of nonselective calcium-permeable cation channel, which belongs to non-voltage gated Ca²⁺ channel. Large-conductance Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ channel (BKCa) represents a unique superfamily of Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ channel (KCa) that is both voltage and intracellular Ca²⁺ dependent. Not surprisingly, aberrant function of either TRPV4 or BKCa in neurons has been associated with brain disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, cerebral ischemia, brain tumor, epilepsy, as well as headache. In these diseases, vascular dysfunction is a common characteristic. Notably, endothelial and smooth muscle TRPV4 can mediate BKCa to regulate cerebral blood flow and pressure. Therefore, in this review, we not only discuss the diverse functions of TRPV4 and BKCa in neurons to integrate relative signaling pathways in the context of cerebral physiological and pathological situations respectively, but also reveal the relationship between TRPV4 and BKCa in regulation of cerebral vascular tone as an etiologic factor. Based on these analyses, this review demonstrates the effective mechanisms of compounds targeting these two channels, which may be potential therapeutic strategies for diseases in the brain.

New Sesquiterpenoids from the Fermented Broth of Termitomyces albuminosus and their Anti-Acetylcholinesterase Activity

Termitomyces albuminosus is the symbiotic edible mushroom of termites and cannot be artificially cultivated at present. In the project of exploring its pharmaceutical metabolites by microbial fermentation, four new selinane type sesquiterpenoids—teucdiol C (1), D (2), E (3), and F (4), together with two known sesquiterpenoids teucdiol B (5) and epi-guaidiol A (6)—were obtained from its fermented broth of T. albuminosus. Their structures were elucidated by the analysis of NMR data, HR Q-TOF MS spectral data, CD, IR, UV, and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Epi-guaidiol A showed obvious anti-acetylcholinesterase activity in a dose-dependent manner. The experimental results displayed that T. albuminosus possess the pharmaceutical potential for Alzheimer’s disease, and it was an effective way to dig new pharmaceutical agent of T. albuminosus with the microbial fermentation technique.

A new cerebroside from the twigs of Lindera glauca (Sieb. et Zucc.) Blume

Lindera glauca (Sieb. et Zucc.) Blume (Lauraceae) has been used to treat rheumatic arthritis, stroke, and cardiac pain. Phytochemical investigation of twigs of L. glauca (Sieb. et Zucc.) Blume resulted in the isolation and identification of a new cerebroside, glaucerebroside (1). The structure of 1 was elucidated by a combination of extensive spectroscopic analyses, including extensive 2D NMR, HR-MS, chemical reactions, and LC/MS analysis. Compound 1 is a relatively rare cerebroside with l-threo-configuration of the sphingosine part. This is the second example of identification of a cerebroside from the family Lauraceae. Compound 1 significantly inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV-2 cells, with an IC₅₀ value of 23.84μM without inducing cell toxicity. This study suggests that glaucerebroside (1) can be an excellent candidate for development of novel anti-neuroinflammatory agents.

Resveratrol protects CA1 neurons against focal cerebral ischemic reperfusion-induced damage via the ERK-CREB signaling pathway in rats

Ischemic stroke is a primary cause of mortality and disability in the aged population. Resveratrol (Res), a natural polyphenol enriched in plants, presents diverse biological activities, e.g., antiinflammatory and anti-oxidation effects. Here, we evaluated whether Res pretreatment influenced focal cerebral ischemia-induced cognitive impairment, and we explored the underlying mechanisms in rats. The results showed that a single administration of Res (30mg/kg, i.p.) at 1 or 4h, but not at 24h before focal cerebral ischemia exerted significant neuroprotective effects, including a reduction in hippocampal CA1 neuronal death and spatial cognition deficits caused by ischemia. The neuroprotective effects of Res were suppressed by pretreatment with MK801, an NMDA receptor blocker, or U0126, an extracellular signal regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) kinase inhibitor. A western blot analysis revealed that Res treatment at 1h before ischemia significantly increased ERK1/2 phosphorylation and cyclic-AMP response element binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, which can be prevented with U0126 pretreatment. The results showed that the NMDA receptor-mediated ERK-CREB signaling pathway might participates in Res-induced neuroprotection in rats with focal cerebral ischemia.

Hydroxysafflor Yellow A Protects Neurons From Excitotoxic Death through Inhibition of NMDARs

Excessive glutamate release causes overactivation of N-methyl d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs), leading to excitatory neuronal damage in cerebral ischemia. Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA), a compound extracted from Carthamus tinctorius L., has been reported to exert a neuroprotective effect in many pathological conditions, including brain ischemia. However, the underlying mechanism of HSYA's effect on neurons remains elusive. In the present study, we conducted experiments using patch-clamp recording of mouse hippocampal slices. In addition, we performed Ca²⁺ imaging, Western blots, as well as mitochondrial-targeted circularly permuted yellow fluorescent protein transfection into cultured hippocampal neurons in order to decipher the physiological mechanism underlying HSYA's neuroprotective effect.

Through the electrophysiology experiments, we found that HSYA inhibited NMDAR-mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents without affecting α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor and γ-aminobutyric acid A-type receptor-mediated currents. This inhibitory effect of HSYA on NMDARs was concentration dependent. HSYA did not show any preferential inhibition of either N-methyl d-aspartate receptor subtype 2A- or N-methyl d-aspartate receptor subtype 2B- subunit-containing NMDARs. Additionally, HSYA exhibits a facilitatory effect on paired NMDAR-mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents. Furthermore, HSYA reduced the magnitude of NMDAR-mediated membrane depolarization currents evoked by oxygen-glucose deprivation, and suppressed oxygen-glucose deprivation–induced and NMDAR-dependent ischemic long-term potentiation, which is believed to cause severe reperfusion damage after ischemia. Through the molecular biology experiments, we found that HSYA inhibited the NMDA-induced and NMDAR-mediated intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration increase in hippocampal cultures, reduced apoptotic and necrotic cell deaths, and prevented mitochondrial damage. Together, our data demonstrate for the first time that HSYA protects hippocampal neurons from excitotoxic damage through the inhibition of NMDARs. This novel finding indicates that HSYA may be a promising pharmacological candidate for the treatment of brain ischemia.

Method parameters' impact on mortality and variability in mouse stroke experiments: a meta-analysis

Although hundreds of promising substances have been tested in clinical trials, thrombolysis currently remains the only specific pharmacological treatment for ischemic stroke. Poor quality, e.g. low statistical power, in the preclinical studies has been suggested to play an important role in these failures. Therefore, it would be attractive to use animal models optimized to minimize unnecessary mortality and outcome variability, or at least to be able to power studies more exactly by predicting variability and mortality given a certain experimental setup. The possible combinations of methodological parameters are innumerous, and an experimental comparison of them all is therefore not feasible. As an alternative approach, we extracted data from 334 experimental mouse stroke articles and, using a hypothesis-driven meta-analysis, investigated the method parameters’ impact on infarct size variability and mortality. The use of Swiss and C57BL6 mice as well as permanent occlusion of the middle cerebral artery rendered the lowest variability of the infarct size while the emboli methods increased variability. The use of Swiss mice increased mortality. Our study offers guidance for researchers striving to optimize mouse stroke models.

Decoding the substrate supply to human neuronal nitric oxide synthase

Nitric oxide, produced by the neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) from L-arginine is an important second messenger molecule in the central nervous system: It influences the synthesis and release of neurotransmitters and plays an important role in long-term potentiation, long-term depression and neuroendocrine secretion. However, under certain pathological conditions such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, stroke and multiple sclerosis, excessive NO production can lead to tissue damage. It is thus desirable to control NO production in these situations. So far, little is known about the substrate supply to human nNOS as a determinant of its activity. Measuring bioactive NO via cGMP formation in reporter cells, we demonstrate here that nNOS in both, human A673 neuroepithelioma and TGW-nu-I neuroblastoma cells can be fast and efficiently nourished by extracellular arginine that enters the cells via membrane transporters (pool I that is freely exchangeable with the extracellular space). When this pool was depleted, NO synthesis was partially sustained by intracellular arginine sources not freely exchangeable with the extracellular space (pool II). Protein breakdown made up by far the largest part of pool II in both cell types. In contrast, citrulline to arginine conversion maintained NO synthesis only in TGW-nu-I neuroblastoma, but not A673 neuroepithelioma cells. Histidine mimicked the effect of protease inhibitors causing an almost complete nNOS inhibition in cells incubated additionally in lysine that depletes the exchangeable arginine pool. Our results identify new ways to modulate nNOS activity by modifying its substrate supply.