The main pathologic changes of the Parkinson's disease (PD) is dopaminergic (DA) neurons lost. Apoptosis was one of the important reasons involved in the DA lost. Our previous study found a fucoidan fraction sulfated heterosaccharide (UF) had neuroprotective activity. The aim of this study was to clarify the mechanism of UF on DA neurons using human dopaminergic neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells a typical as a PD cellular model. Results showed that UF prevented MPP+-induced SH-SY5Y cells apoptosis and cell death. Additionally, UF pretreated cells increased phosphorylation of Akt, PI3K and NGF, which means UF-treated active PI3K-Akt pathway. Moreover, UF treated cells decreased the expression of apoptosis-associated protein, such as the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2, GSK3β, caspase-3 and p53 nuclear induced by MPP+. This effect was partially blocked by PI3K inhibitor LY294002. Our data suggested that protective effect of UF against MPP+-induced SH-SY5Y cells death by affecting the PI3K-Akt pathway. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the critical roles of UF in treating PD and may elucidate the molecular mechanisms of UF effects in PD.
Keywords: PI3K–Akt; dopamine neurons apoptosis; fucoidan; sulfated heterosaccharide.