Vasicinone is a quinazoline alkaloid isolated from the Adhatoda vasica plant. In this study, we explored the neuroprotective effect and underlying molecular mechanism of vasicinone against paraquat-induced cellular apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells. Vasicinone reduced the paraquat-induced loss of cell viability, rescued terminal deoxynucleotide transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL)-positive apoptotic nuclei, and suppressed generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a dose-dependent manner. Western blotting analysis revealed that vasicinone increased the phosphorylation of IGF1R/PI3K/AKT cell survival signaling molecules and downregulated the paraquat-induced, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)-mediated apoptotic pathways compared to that observed in cells not treated with vasicinone. This protection depended critically on the activation of IGF1R, and the silencing of IGF1R by siRNA completely abrogated the protective effect of vasicinone in SH-SY5Y cells. Our findings indicated that vasicinone is a potential candidate for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and possibly other oxidative stress-related neurodegenerative disorders.
Keywords: apoptosis; neuroprotection; paraquat; parkinson’s disease; reactive oxygen species; vasicinone.