Arctigenin, a phenylpropanoid dibenzylbutyrolactone lignan, inhibits MAP kinases and AP-1 activation via potent MKK inhibition: the role in TNF-α inhibition

Abstract

Arctigenin, naturally occurring in Bardanae fructus, Saussurea medusa, Arctium lappa L., Torreya nucifera and Ipomea cairica, is a phenylpropanoid dibenzylbutyrolactone lignan with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Previously, we showed that arctigenin potently inhibited the induction of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which involved suppression of NF-κB activation. In the present study, we examined the effects of arctigenin on mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase activation in Raw264.7 cells and MAP kinase kinase (MKK) activity. The effect of arctigenin on activator protein-1 (AP-1) activation was also studied in association with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) expression. Immunoblot analysis showed that arctigenin inhibited phosphorylation of MAP kinases ERK1/2, p38 kinase and JNK and their activities in Raw264.7 cells treated with LPS. Arctigenin potently inhibited the activity of MKK1 in vitro with the IC50 value of 1 nM. Gel shift and reporter gene analyses revealed that arctigenin inhibited LPS-inducible AP-1 binding to the AP-1 consensus oligonucleotide and AP-1-mediated reporter gene expression. In view of the potential role of AP-1 in the induction of TNF-α, we next examined the inhibitory effects of arctigenin on the expression of TNF-α. Arctigenin blocked TNF-α production and decreased the level of TNF-α mRNA in the cells exposed to LPS. These results showed that arctigenin inhibited activation of MAP kinases including ERK1/2, p38 kinase and JNK through the inhibition of MKK activities, leading to AP-1 inactivation, which might, at least in part, contribute to the inhibition of TNF-α production.