Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2022, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (4): 1231-1240.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2022.04.023

• BASIC VETERINARY MEDICINE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects and Mechanisms of Exogenous Neuropeptide CART on Oxidative Stress in Hippocampal Neurons

YANG Chengying1, LIN Hailan1, HUANG Ziqing1, WANG Naixiu1, WANG Kai1, GAN Ling1,2*   

  1. 1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Southwest University, Chongqing 402460, China;
    2. Chongqing Veterinary Engineering Research Center, Chongqing 402460, China
  • Received:2021-08-09 Online:2022-04-23 Published:2022-04-25

Abstract: The study aimed at investigating the effect and mechanism of exogenous neuropeptide cocaine-and amphetamine-regulated transcription factor (CART) against oxidative stress in hippocampal neurons. The primary culture of hippocampal neurons was carried out in rats within 24 hours of birth. Following the purity test, 200 μmol·mL-1 hydrogen peroxide were used to induce oxidative stress. On this basis, the effects of CART on the neuronal viability, ATP content, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP)and the expression levels of apoptosis-related genes and trkB gene were investigated. Also the correlation between trkB gene and apoptosis-related genes was analyzed. The results showed that compared with the control group, the neuron viability and ATP content in H2O2 group were extremely significantly decreased(P<0.01), and the MMP was significantly decreased (P<0.05); CART with different concentrations significantly increased the neuronal viability, ATP content and MMP(P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the mRNA levels of bax and caspase-3 were extremely significantly increased in H2O2 group(P<0.01), and the mRNA levels of bcl-2 were extremely significantly decreased (P<0.01) and trkB were significantly decreased (P<0.05) in H2O2 group. Compaced with the H2O2 group, the mRNA levels of bcl-2 (P<0.01) were extremely significantly increased and trkB (P<0.05) were significantly increased in CART + H2O2 group. While the mRNA levels of bax were significantly decreased (P<0.05) and the mRNA levels of caspase-3 was extremely significantly decreased (P<0.01) in CART+H2O2 group compared with H2O2 group. The results of Western blot showed that the protein levels of bax and caspase-3 in H2O2 group were significantly higher than those in control group (P<0.05), and the protein levels of bcl-2 and trkB were significantly lower than those in control group (P<0.05). The protein levels of bcl-2 and trkB were significantly increased in CART+H2O2 group (P<0.05), while the protein levels of bax and caspase-3 were significantly decreased (P<0.05) compared with H2O2 group. The correlation analysis showed that, trkB gene was negatively correlated with the expression level of bax and caspase-3 genes, while positively correlated with the expression level of bcl-2 gene. The results indicate that CART can resist oxidative stress in hippocampal neurons by inhibiting apoptotic signaling pathway while increasing the expression level of trkB gene.

Key words: neuropeptide, hippocampal neurons, oxidative stress, BDNF/trkB, apoptosis signaling pathway

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