Abstract
BackgroundIt is known that the medicinal herb Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. is widely used as a remedy for diarrhea as well as the symptoms accompanying hypertension and cerebrovascular disorders. Moreover, it has also been reported that Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. has beneficial effects on anti-senescence and neuro-protection. This study focuses on the molecular mechanisms by which the Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. fruits promote neuron regeneration.MethodsA piece of silicone rubber was guided across a 15 mm gap in the sciatic nerve of a rat. This nerve gap was then filled with various doses of Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. fruits to assess their regenerative effect on damaged nerves. Further, we investigated the role of Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. fruits in RSC96 Schwann cell proliferation.ResultsOur current results showed that treatment with the extract of Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. fruits triggers the phosphorylated insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor- phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/serine-threonine kinase pathway, and up-regulated the proliferating cell nuclear antigen in a dose-dependent manner. Cell cycle analysis on RSC96 Schwann cells showed that, after exposure to Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. fruit extract, the transition from the first gap phase to the synthesis phase occurs in 12–18 h. The expression of the cell cycle regulatory proteins cyclin D1, cyclin E and cyclin A increased in a dose-dependent manner. Transfection with a small interfering RNA blocked the expression of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and induced down-regulation both on the mRNA and protein levels, which resulted in a reduction of the expression of the survival factor B-cell lymphoma 2.ConclusionWe provide positive results that demonstrate that Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. fruits facilitate the survival and proliferation of RSC96 cells via insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling.
Highlights
It is known that the medicinal herb Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. is widely used as a remedy for diarrhea as well as the symptoms accompanying hypertension and cerebrovascular disorders
Alpinia oxyphylla Miq (AOF) promotes regenerative signaling of damaged peripheral nerves To identify the positive effects of AOF promoting damaged nerve regeneration, the rat sciatic nerves from the chamber treated with AOF were taken by surgery, and the modulation in the expression of proliferation-related proteins was examined
To investigate the role of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) signaling in AOF-induced nerve proliferation, the activities of IGF-1 signaling in the regenerated nerves were examined, and the observations showed that the protein levels of IGF-1, p-Akt and BCl-xL were increased (Fig. 1b)
Summary
It is known that the medicinal herb Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. is widely used as a remedy for diarrhea as well as the symptoms accompanying hypertension and cerebrovascular disorders. It has been reported that Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. has beneficial effects on anti-senescence and neuro-protection. This study focuses on the molecular mechanisms by which the Alpinia oxyphylla Miq. fruits promote neuron regeneration. It is known that the different anatomical structures of neurons and their regenerative abilities contribute to the central and peripheral nervous systems. Neuron injury stimulates various physiological responses that facilitate nerve cell regeneration. Enhancing Schwann cell proliferation might be a potential approach for neuron regeneration in neuron injury. IGF-1 modulates muscle satellite cells to undergo activation, proliferation and differentiation, leading to muscle regeneration and hypertrophy [5]
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