1. Hydrogen exerts neuroprotection by activation of the miR‐21/PI3K/AKT/GSK‐3β pathway in an in vitro model of traumatic brain injury
- Author
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Zhaoli Han, Shan Huang, Yifeng Wang, Tianpeng Hu, Mengtian Guo, Ping Lei, Zhenyu Yin, Lu Wang, and Feng Wang
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Traumatic brain injury ,In Vitro Techniques ,Neuroprotection ,Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ,03 medical and health sciences ,GSK‐3β ,0302 clinical medicine ,Western blot ,Brain Injuries, Traumatic ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,nerve regeneration ,Protein kinase B ,miR‐21 ,PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway ,Neurons ,Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta ,TUNEL assay ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Chemistry ,traumatic brain injury ,Regeneration (biology) ,apoptosis ,Antagomirs ,Original Articles ,Cell Biology ,medicine.disease ,Rats ,Cell biology ,MicroRNAs ,Neuroprotective Agents ,030104 developmental biology ,Gene Expression Regulation ,Apoptosis ,hydrogen ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Molecular Medicine ,Original Article ,Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ,Signal Transduction - Abstract
Few studies have explored the effect of hydrogen on neuronal apoptosis or impaired nerve regeneration after traumatic brain injury, and the mechanisms involved in these processes are unclear. In this study, we explored neuroprotection of hydrogen‐rich medium through activation of the miR‐21/PI3K/AKT/GSK‐3β pathway in an in vitro model of traumatic brain injury. Such model adopted PC12 cells with manual scratching. Then, injured cells were cultured in hydrogen‐rich medium for 48 hours. Expression of miR‐21, p‐PI3K, p‐Akt, p‐GSK‐3β, Bax and Bcl‐2 was measured using RT‐qPCR, Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence staining. Rate of apoptosis was determined using TUNEL staining. Neuronal regeneration was assessed using immunofluorescence staining. The results showed that hydrogen‐rich medium improved neurite regeneration and inhibited apoptosis in the injured cells. Scratch injury was accompanied by up‐regulation of miR‐21, p‐PI3K, p‐Akt and p‐GSK‐3β. A miR‐21 antagomir inhibited the expression of these four molecules, while a PI3K blocker only affected the three proteins and not miR‐21. Both the miR‐21 antagomir and PI3K blocker reversed the protective effect of hydrogen. In conclusion, hydrogen exerted a neuroprotective effect against neuronal apoptosis and impaired nerve regeneration through activation of miR‐21/PI3K/AKT/GSK‐3β signalling in this in vitro model of traumatic brain injury.
- Published
- 2020