Department of Pharmacology and Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, 103 Daehakro, Jongro-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Neuroscience Research Institute, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, 103 Daehakro, Jongro-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Department of Pharmacology and Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, 103 Daehakro, Jongro-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Neuroscience Research Institute, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, 103 Daehakro, Jongro-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Seoul National University College of Medicine, Bundang Hospital, Bundang-Gu, Sungnam, Republic of Korea.
J Pharmacol Sci. 2021 Apr;145(4):308-312. doi: 10.1016/j.jphs.2021.01.008. Epub 2021 Jan 23.
Astrocytes are the most abundant cell type in the central nervous system (CNS) and their major function is to maintain homeostasis of the CNS by exerting various functions. Simultaneously, reactive astrocytes are well known to be involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Reactive astrocytes, induced by amyloid beta peptide (Aβ), the main component of the neuritic plaques found in AD, induce neuroinflammation, producing cytokines that lead to neuronal cell death in AD. Phloroglucinol,a polyphenol monomer and a component of phlorotannin, is found at sufficient levels in Ecklonia cava of the Laminariaceae family. Recently, several studies have reported that phloroglucinol has the ability to trap free radicals in lung fibroblasts or cancer cells. However, the effects of phloroglucinol in astrocytes have not yet been studied. Here, we found that phloroglucinol inhibits the generation of ROS induced by oligomeric Aβ (oAβ) treatment in primary astrocytes. Futhermore, phloroglucinol was shown to ameliorate the protein expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein, a marker of reactive astrocytes, after treatment with oAβ. These results indicate that phloroglucinol exerts antioxidant effects in primary cultured astrocytes and attenuates the astrocytic activation induced by oAβ.
星形胶质细胞是中枢神经系统（CNS）中最丰富的细胞类型，其主要功能是通过发挥各种功能来维持 CNS 的内稳态。同时，反应性星形胶质细胞被认为参与神经退行性疾病的发病机制，如阿尔茨海默病（AD）。由淀粉样β肽（Aβ）诱导的反应性星形胶质细胞，是 AD 中发现的神经突斑块的主要成分，诱导神经炎症，产生细胞因子导致 AD 中的神经元细胞死亡。间苯三酚是一种多酚单体，也是岩藻黄质的组成部分，在昆布科的裙带菜中含量充足。最近，有几项研究报告称，间苯三酚能够捕获肺成纤维细胞或癌细胞中的自由基。然而，间苯三酚在星形胶质细胞中的作用尚未得到研究。在这里，我们发现间苯三酚抑制了原代星形胶质细胞中寡聚 Aβ（oAβ）处理诱导的 ROS 的产生。此外，间苯三酚还显示出在 oAβ 处理后改善了反应性星形胶质细胞标志物胶质纤维酸性蛋白的蛋白表达。这些结果表明，间苯三酚在原代培养的星形胶质细胞中发挥抗氧化作用，并减轻 oAβ 诱导的星形胶质细胞激活。
