Paeoniflorin Protects PC12 Cells From MPP~ + -induced Injury Via Autophagy-lysosome Pathway

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the neuroprotective effects of Paeoniflorin (PF) on MPP+ induced injury in cultured PC12 cells, and to investigate the effects of PF on autophagy-lysosome pathway.METHODSThe cell viability following Mpp+ was analyzed with MTT assay. The degree of cell injury was assessed by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay. Flow cytometry was used to study the apoptotic and calcium influx. Western blot was used to examine the expression of microtubule associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) and receptor lysosome-associated membrane protein 2a (Lamp2a).RESULTSMpp+ exposure significantly decreased the cell viability (P<0.001), increased the activity of LDH (P<0.001) which released to culture medium, raised apoptosis rate (P<0.001), raised the concentration of cytosolic free calcium(P<0.01). Western bolt analysis shown that Mpp+ exposure inhibited the expression of LC3-Ⅰ(0.64±0.05 fold, P<0.01) and LC3-Ⅱ(0.58±0.10 fold, P<0.01) , and led to compensatory induction of Lamp2a protein to 1.34±0.14 fold (P<0.05). Co-incubation with PF (50μmol·L-1) significantly increased the cell viability, inhibited the release of LDH (P<0.001), reduced the apoptosis rate (P<0.001) and reduced the influx of free calcium (P<0.01), upregulated the expression of LC3-Ⅰand LC3-Ⅱ(P<0.05) and inhibited the overexpression of Lamp2a (P<0.001).CONCLUSIONPF could protect PC12 cells against Mpp+-induced injury via autophagic-lysosome pathway.