Sauchinone, a lignan from Saururus chinensis, inhibits staurosporine-induced apoptosis in C6 rat glioma cells.

Neuronal apoptosis may contribute to pathologic neuronal loss in certain disease states such as neurodegenerative diseases. Staurosporine (ST), a nonselective protein kinase inhibitor, has been shown to induce apoptosis in a variety of cells including nerve cell lines. In this study, we investigated the neuroprotective effect of sauchinone, which is a unique lignan from Saururus chinensis, on ST-induced apoptosis in C6 rat glioma cells. Sauchinone attenuated ST-induced apoptosis of C6 glioma cells as evidenced by DNA fragmentation. We also provide evidence that the inhibitory effect of sauchinone on ST-induced apoptosis involves a dose-dependent upregulation of an antiapoptotic protein, Bcl-2. Mounting evidence shows that the activation of caspases, especially caspase-3, triggers the apoptotic process. The activity of caspase-3 of ST-pretreated cells was significantly decreased upon sauchinone treatment in a dose-dependent manner. Taken together, the data demonstrate that sauchinone protects C6 glioma cells from ST-induced apoptosis in a caspase-3 dependent manner. Our findings may be critical for developing a strategy to protect nerve cells from apoptosis, suggesting the potential development of sauchinone as a neuroprotective agent.