Aberrant neural progenitor cell (NPC) proliferation and neurogenesis have been linked to age-related neurodegeneration and neurodegenerative disorders. Mao et al from the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology (SIBCB), Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences revealed that a herb medicine for Alzheimer’s disease and its active constituents promote NPC proliferation and neurogenesis, providing a novel regenerative therapeutic strategy to fight against aging-related neurodegeneration.
Neurogenesis is critical for cognition functions of the brain. However, under the conditions such as aging, chronic stress and central neuron diseases, NPC proliferation decreases dramatically, which leads to the declined neurogenesis and thereby cognition impairment. Therefore, promoting neurogenesis has been considered as a potential therapeutic strategy for anti-aging and aging-related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Since there are still some open questions coming along with NPC transplantation such as donor cell source and functional integration, mobilizing endogenous NPCs by pharmacological agents is considered to be an easy and feasible way to provide an alternative cell therapy for neurodegeneration.
Among the treasury of traditional Chinese medicine, many herb medicines have been considered beneficial for cognition improvement. Recently, some natural products derived from herbal medicines have been reported to promote NPC proliferation, elucidating the underlying mechanism for the cognition-enhancing effects of these herbal medicines. Rhizoma Acori tatarinowii (AT) has long been a principal medicine in traditional Chinese formulas for treatment of brain disorders, such as senile dementia, dysmnesia and stroke. Under the guidance of Professors PEI Gang and Zhao Jian, graduate student Mao Jianxin and Dr. Huang Shichao found that AT-treatment enhanced hippocampal neurogenesis in wild-type and transgenic AD model mice as well as aged mice. By fractionation of the AT extract, they identified the active constituents, asarones, which was shown to promote NPC proliferation both in vivo and in vitro. Further, their mechanistic study revealed that treatment with AT or asarones leads to the activation of ERK cascade but not Akt cascade.
Their findings indicate that AT and asarones, which could be orally administrated, may serve as therapeutic agents to promote neurogenesis, providing a novel way to fight against cognitive decline associated with aging and neurodegenerative disorders.
This work was published in Aging Cell entitled “A herbal medicine for Alzheimer’s disease and its active constituents promote neural progenitor proliferation”. The study was done in collaboration with Tongji University, Jinan University and Shenyang Pharmaceutical University. It was funded by the grants from Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Science and Technology, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ministry of Health and Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality.
Contact:
PEI Gang
Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, P. R. China.
Phone: 021-54921371
E-mail: gpei@sibs.ac.cn
Figure (A): Rhizoma Acori tatarinowii (AT) promoted neural progenitor cell (NPC) proliferation in adult mouse hippocampus
Figure (B): AT enhanced neurogenesis in adult mouse hippocampus
Figure (C): Schematic diagram shows that asarones promote NPC proliferation through activation of ERK cascades.
(Image by Prof. PEI Gang’s group)
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