Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
Department of Pharmacy, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
J Agric Food Chem. 2021 Oct 27;69(42):12456-12464. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.1c04011. Epub 2021 Oct 14.
Neural stem cell (NSC) differentiation and proliferation are important biological processes in the cerebral neural network. However, these two abilities of NSCs are limited. Thus, the induction of differentiation and/or proliferation through the administration of plant-derived small-molecule compounds could be used to repair damaged neural networks. The present study reported that gallic acid (GA), an important phenolic acid found in tea, selectively caused NSCs to differentiate into immature neurons and promoted NSC proliferation by activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) pathway. In addition, it was found that 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid was the main active structure exhibiting neurotrophic activity. The substitution of the carboxyl group on the benzene ring with the ester group may promote differentiation based on the structure of 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid. Furthermore, the introduction of the 5-hydroxyl group may promote proliferation. The present study identified that GA can promote the differentiation and proliferation of NSCs and exert pharmacological activity on NSCs.
神经干细胞（NSC）的分化和增殖是大脑神经网络中的重要生物学过程。然而，NSC 的这两种能力是有限的。因此，通过给予植物来源的小分子化合物来诱导分化和/或增殖，可以用于修复受损的神经网络。本研究报道，没食子酸（GA），一种在茶中发现的重要酚酸，通过激活丝裂原活化蛋白激酶/细胞外调节激酶（MAPK/ERK）通路，选择性地诱导 NSCs 分化为未成熟神经元，并促进 NSC 增殖。此外，还发现 3,4-二羟基苯甲酸是表现出神经营养活性的主要活性结构。基于 3,4-二羟基苯甲酸的结构，苯环上羧基的酯化取代可能会促进分化。此外，引入 5-羟基可能会促进增殖。本研究鉴定出 GA 可促进 NSCs 的分化和增殖，并对 NSCs 发挥药理学活性。
