Department of Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine, Research Institute of Life Science, South Korea.
Neurosci Lett. 2012 May 10;516(1):146-50. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2012.03.078. Epub 2012 Apr 3.
Ferulic acid exerts a neuroprotective effect through its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammation properties. Parvalbumin has calcium buffering capacity and protects neuronal cells from cytotoxic Ca(2+) overload. This study investigated whether ferulic acid regulates parvalbumin expression in cerebral ischemia and glutamate toxicity-induced neuronal cell death. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were immediately treated with vehicle or ferulic acid (100 mg/kg, i.v.) after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and cerebral cortex tissues were collected 24 h after MCAO. A proteomics approach elucidated the decrease of parvalbumin in MCAO-operated animals, and ferulic acid treatment attenuated the injury-induced decrease in parvalbumin expression. Moreover, RT-PCR and Western blot analyses clearly showed that ferulic acid treatment prevents the injury-induced decrease in parvalbumin levels. The number of parvalbumin-positive cells also decreased in MCAO-operated animals, and ferulic acid attenuated this injury-induced decrease in parvalbumin-positive cells. In cultured hippocampal cells, glutamate toxicity significantly increased the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration, whereas this increase in Ca(2+) levels was inhibited by ferulic acid treatment. In addition, ferulic acid treatment attenuated the glutamate exposure-induced decrease in parvalbumin levels. These results suggest that ferulic acid exerts a neuroprotective effect by attenuating the injury-induced decrease of parvalbumin and modulating intracellular Ca(2+) levels.
阿魏酸通过其抗氧化和抗炎特性发挥神经保护作用。钙结合蛋白 parvalbumin 具有钙缓冲能力，可以保护神经元细胞免受细胞毒性 Ca(2+)过载的影响。本研究探讨了阿魏酸是否调节脑缺血和谷氨酸毒性诱导的神经元细胞死亡过程中的 parvalbumin 表达。雄性 Sprague-Dawley 大鼠在大脑中动脉闭塞（MCAO）后立即用载体或阿魏酸（100 mg/kg，iv.）处理，MCAO 后 24 小时收集大脑皮质组织。蛋白质组学方法阐明了 MCAO 操作动物中 parvalbumin 的减少，阿魏酸处理减弱了损伤诱导的 parvalbumin 表达减少。此外，RT-PCR 和 Western blot 分析清楚地表明，阿魏酸处理可防止损伤诱导的 parvalbumin 水平降低。MCAO 操作动物中 parvalbumin 阳性细胞的数量也减少，阿魏酸减弱了这种损伤诱导的 parvalbumin 阳性细胞减少。在培养的海马细胞中，谷氨酸毒性显著增加细胞内 Ca(2+)浓度，而阿魏酸处理抑制 Ca(2+)水平的这种增加。此外，阿魏酸处理减弱了谷氨酸暴露诱导的 parvalbumin 水平降低。这些结果表明，阿魏酸通过减弱损伤诱导的 parvalbumin 减少和调节细胞内 Ca(2+)水平发挥神经保护作用。
