Protective effects and mechanism of TPX2 on neurocyte apoptosis of rats in Alzheimer's disease model

Keshan Liang; Jingling Zhang; Chengbin Yin; Xueying Zhou; Shengnian Zhou

doi:10.3892/etm.2016.4006

Protective effects and mechanism of TPX2 on neurocyte apoptosis of rats in Alzheimer's disease model

Exp Ther Med. 2017 Feb;13(2):576-580. doi: 10.3892/etm.2016.4006. Epub 2016 Dec 27.

Authors

Keshan Liang¹, Jingling Zhang², Chengbin Yin³, Xueying Zhou⁴, Shengnian Zhou⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University and Brain Science Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, P.R. China; Department of Neurology, Pingyi Branch of Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Pingyi, Shandong 273300, P.R. China.
² Department of Endocrinology, Linyi People's Hospital, Linyi, Shandong 276000, P.R. China.
³ Department of Emergency, Qingdao Branch of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong 266000, P.R. China.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Shangdong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, Shandong 250031, P.R. China.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University and Brain Science Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, P.R. China.

Abstract

We investigated the protective effects and mechanism of TPX2 on apoptosis of rat neurocytes. A total of 90 SD rats were randomly divided into the drug group, the control group and the blank group, with 30 rats in each group. The rats in the drug group and in the blank group were anesthetized with 10% chloral hydrate (at the dose of 0.5 ml/100 g) and Aβ_1-42, with the concentration of 5 µl (1 µg/µl), was injected in the exact position of bilateral hippocampal areas of rats to establish the model. The configured TPX2 inhibitors and edible benne oil were mixed and made into a suspension. After model establishment, the rats were given different treatment methods; the rats in the drug group were given gavage administration in the proportion of 75 mg/kg once a day. The rats in the control group were given intragastric administration with the same proportion of physiological saline once a day. The blank group was the normal healthy group and the rats in this group did not undergo any surgery or drug treatment. Brain tissue in rats were divided into two parts, one part was fixed, dehydrated, paraffin-embedded and made into slices of approximately 5 µm. TUNEL staining was used to examine the apoptosis of brain tissue, H&E staining was used to observe the brain tissue cells of each group, and western blotting for detecting the MAPK, Erk and expression levels of p38 and RT-polymerase chain reaction method was employed to examine mRNA expression levels of MAPK, Erk and p21. After one week, TUNEL staining showed that apoptosis of brain tissue in the drug group was significantly greater than those of the control and blank groups. The protein expression levels of MAPK, Erk and p38 were significantly higher than those of the control group and the normal healthy group; the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Western blotting showed that the protein expression levels of MAPK, Erk and p38 of the drug group were significantly lower than those of the control group but higher than those of the normal healthy group; the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). TPX2 has a protective effect on the apoptosis of brain tissue processed by Aβ_1-42, which plays its role through the inhibition of the protein expression levels of MAPK, Erk and p38.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; MAPK; TPX2; apoptosis.