Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with limited therapeutic strategies. NB-02 is a novel botanical drug that has shown promise as a protective and therapeutic treatment for AD in an APP/PS1 preclinical mouse model. In this paper, we investigate the underlying mechanisms by which NB-02 provides these therapeutic advantages using in vitro neuron-astrocyte co-cultures. Pretreatment with NB-02 prevented pathological calcium elevations in neurons and astrocytes after application of toxic soluble amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers. NB-02 also prevented cell death associated with the addition of soluble Aβ oligomers suggesting NB-02 is effective at protecting both neurons and astrocytes from Aβ-mediated damage.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; DA-9803; NB-02; amyloid; astrocyte; calcium; neuron; oligomer; therapy.