Quercetin Potentiates the NGF-Induced Effects in Cultured PC 12 Cells: Identification by HerboChips Showing a Binding with NGF

Gallant K L Chan; Winnie W H Hu; Zoey X Zheng; M Huang; Yan X Y Lin; Caroline Y Wang; Amy G W Gong; X Y Yang; Karl W K Tsim; Tina T X Dong

doi:10.1155/2018/1502457

Quercetin Potentiates the NGF-Induced Effects in Cultured PC 12 Cells: Identification by HerboChips Showing a Binding with NGF

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2018 Feb 28:2018:1502457. doi: 10.1155/2018/1502457. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Gallant K L Chan^{1

2}, Winnie W H Hu^{1

2}, Zoey X Zheng^{1

2}, M Huang³, Yan X Y Lin^{1

2}, Caroline Y Wang^{1

2}, Amy G W Gong^{1

2}, X Y Yang³, Karl W K Tsim^{1

2}, Tina T X Dong^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Shenzhen Research Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518057, China.
² Division of Life Science and Center for Chinese Medicine, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong.
³ YNBY Lab Inc., No. 51, Xi-Ba Rd., Kunming, Yunnan Province 650032, China.

Abstract

Dementia is a persistent disorder of the mental processes and is strongly related to depression. However, the performance of current antidepression medicine is far from satisfactory. Herbal extract provides an excellent source to identify compounds for possible drug development against depression. Here, HerboChips were employed to search herbal compounds that could bind nerve growth factor (NGF). By screening over 500 types of herbal extracts, the water extract of Ginkgo Folium, the leaf of Ginkgo biloba, showed a strong binding to NGF. The herbal fractions showing NGF binding were further isolated and enriched. By using LC-MS/MS analysis, one of the NGF binding fractions was enriched, which was further identified as quercetin, a major flavonoid in Ginkgo Folium. Quercetin, similar to Ginkgo Folium extract, could enhance the effect of NGF in cultured PC 12 cells, including potentiation of neurite outgrowth and phosphorylation of Erk-1/2. This is the first report of discovering an NGF binding compound by using HerboChips from herbal extracts, which could be further developed for antidepression application.