251. Research Paper. BDNF-ERK-CREB signalling mediates the role of miR-132 in the regulation of the effects of oleanolic acid in male mice.
- Author
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Li-Tao Yi, Jing Li, Bin-Bin Liu, Liu Luo, Qing Liu, and Di Geng
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ANTIDEPRESSANTS , *MENTAL depression , *ANALYSIS of variance , *ANIMAL experimentation , *CELLULAR signal transduction , *IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY , *POLYMERASE chain reaction , *RATS , *RESEARCH funding , *STATISTICS , *PSYCHOLOGICAL stress , *TERPENES , *WESTERN immunoblotting , *DATA analysis , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics - Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although previous study has demonstrated that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is involved in the antidepressant-like effect of oleanolic acid, there is little information regarding the details of the molecular mechanism involved in this effect. METHODS: We used a chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model to test the antidepressant-like effect of oleanolic acid on depressant-like behaviour, miR-132 expression and synaptic protein expression in the male mouse hippocampus. Furthermore, we explored the possible signalling pathways associated with miR-132 expression that mediate the effect of oleanolic acid on neuronal proliferation. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that a 3-week treatment with oleanolic acid ameliorated CUMS-induced anhedonic and anxiogenic behaviours. Furthermore, we found that oleanolic acid led to the BDNF-related phosphorylation and activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) and cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element binding protein (CREB), which was associated with the upregulation of miR-132 and hippocampal neuronal proliferation. Moreover, experiments with an miR-132 antagomir revealed that targeting miR-132 led to inhibition of neuronal proliferation and the postsynaptic density protein 95, but did not affect presynaptic protein synapsin I. LIMITATIONS: Several other stimuli can also induce CREB phosphorylation in the hippocampus. Thus, regulation of miR-132 may not be restricted to neurotrophic signalling. CONCLUSION: Our results show that oleanolic acid induces the upregulation of miR-132, which serves as an important regulator of neurotrophic actions, mainly through the activation of the hippocampal BDNF-ERK-CREB signalling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
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