Tianma (Gastrodia elata Blume) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) often used for the treatment of headache, convulsions, hypertension and neurodegenerative diseases. Tianma also modulates the cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein App and cognitive functions in mice. The neuronal actions of tianma thus led us to investigate its specific effects on neuronal signalling. Accordingly, this pilot study was designed to examine the effects of tianma on the proteome metabolism in differentiated mouse neuronal N2a cells using an iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation)-based proteomics research approach. We identified 2178 proteins, out of which 74 were found to be altered upon tianma treatment in differentiated mouse neuronal N2a cells. Based on the observed data obtained, we hypothesize that tianma could promote neuro-regenerative processes by inhibiting stress-related proteins and mobilizing neuroprotective genes such as Nxn, Dbnl, Mobkl3, Clic4, Mki67 and Bax with various regenerative modalities and capacities related to neuro-synaptic plasticity.
Keywords: Aging; TCM; metabolism; neurodegeneration; neuron; signalling; tianma.