scholarly journals Curcumin Improves Epithelial Barrier Integrity of Caco-2 Monolayers by Inhibiting Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Subsequent Apoptosis

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Xinxin Zhou ◽  
Mengting Ren ◽  
Jinpu Yang ◽  
Hanghai Pan ◽  
Mosang Yu ◽  
...  

Curcumin is a natural polyphenol and is supposed to possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antiapoptotic properties. Although some studies have reported the therapeutic effects of curcumin on ulcerative colitis (UC), the specific mechanism remains unclear. An in vitro coculture model of Caco-2 and differentiated THP-1 cells was established. After administration of curcumin (10 μM), Western blot analysis was performed to evaluate the protein levels of tight junction (TJ) proteins zonula occludens- (ZO-) 1 and claudin-1. Annexin V-APC/7-AAD assays and flow cytometry were conducted to assess Caco-2 cell apoptosis. The expression levels of oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress- (ERS-) related molecules were determined by Western blot analysis. Curcumin administration significantly upregulated ZO-1 and claudin-1 protein levels and reduced Caco-2 cell apoptosis. The protein levels of oxidative stress markers inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and γH2AX and ERS-induced apoptosis-related molecules C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) and cleaved caspase-12 were significantly downregulated upon curcumin treatment. Furthermore, curcumin administration greatly blocked the protein kinase-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase- (PERK-) eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α- (eIF2α-) activating transcription factor 4- (ATF4-) CHOP signaling pathway. Curcumin enhanced intestinal epithelial barrier integrity in the in vitro coculture model by upregulating TJ protein expressions and reducing intestinal epithelial cell apoptosis. The potential mechanisms may be suppression of ERS and subsequent apoptosis.

Antioxidants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 417
Author(s):  
Manuele Gori ◽  
Annamaria Altomare ◽  
Silvia Cocca ◽  
Eleonora Solida ◽  
Mentore Ribolsi ◽  
...  

Palmitic acid (PA), a long-chain saturated fatty acid, might activate innate immune cells. PA plays a role in chronic liver disease, diabetes and Crohn’s disease, all of which are associated with impaired intestinal permeability. We investigated the effect of PA, at physiological postprandial intestinal concentrations, on gut epithelium as compared to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and ethanol, using an in vitro gut model, the human intestinal epithelial cell line Caco-2 grown on transwell inserts. Cytotoxicity and oxidative stress were evaluated; epithelial barrier integrity was investigated by measuring the paracellular flux of fluorescein, and through RT-qPCR and immunofluorescence of tight junction (TJ) and adherens junction (AJ) mRNAs and proteins, respectively. In PA-exposed Caco-2 monolayers, cytotoxicity and oxidative stress were not detected. A significant increase in fluorescein flux was observed in PA-treated monolayers, after 90 min and up to 360 min, whereas with LPS and ethanol, this was only observed at later time-points. Gene expression and immunofluorescence analysis showed TJ and AJ alterations only in PA-exposed monolayers. In conclusion, PA affected intestinal permeability without inducing cytotoxicity or oxidative stress. This effect seemed to be faster and stronger than those with LPS and ethanol. Thus, we hypothesized that PA, besides having an immunomodulatory effect, might play a role in inflammatory and functional intestinal disorders in which the intestinal permeability is altered.


Author(s):  
Mohamed Omar Taqi ◽  
Mohammed Saeed-Zidane ◽  
Samuel Gebremedhn ◽  
Dessie Salilew-Wondim ◽  
Ernst Tholen ◽  
...  

AbstractTranscription factors (TFs) are known to be involved in regulating the expression of several classes of genes during folliculogenesis. However, the regulatory role of TFs during oxidative stress (OS) is not fully understood. The current study was aimed to investigate the regulation of the TFs in bovine granulosa cells (bGCs) during exposure to OS induced by H2O2 in vitro. For this, bGCs derived from ovarian follicles were cultured in vitro till their confluency and then treated with H2O2 for 40 min. Twenty-four hours later, cells were subjected to various phenotypic and gene expression analyses for genes related to TFs, endoplasmic reticulum stress, apoptosis, cell proliferation, and differentiation markers. The bGCs exhibited higher reactive oxygen species accumulation, DNA fragmentation, and endoplasmic reticulum stress accompanied by reduction of mitochondrial activity after exposure to OS. In addition, higher lipid accumulation and lower cell proliferation were noticed in H2O2-challenged cells. The mRNA level of TFs including NRF2, E2F1, KLF6, KLF9, FOS, SREBF1, SREBF2, and NOTCH1 was increased in H2O2-treated cells compared with non-treated controls. However, the expression level of KLF4 and its downstream gene, CCNB1, were downregulated in the H2O2-challenged group. Moreover, targeted inhibition of NRF2 using small interference RNA resulted in reduced expression of KLF9, FOS, SREBF2, and NOTCH1 genes, while the expression of KLF4 was upregulated. Taken together, bovine granulosa cells exposed to OS exhibited differential expression of various transcription factors, which are mediated by the NRF2 signaling pathway.


Dose-Response ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 155932581881063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiangang Cao ◽  
Yu Zhang ◽  
Tianyi Wang ◽  
Bo Li

Osteoarthritis (OA) affects elderly population worldwide and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is known to be positively correlated with OA development. Previous reports prove the cytoprotective effects of baicalin on chondrocytes, whereas the mechanisms are hardly reported. Hence, we aimed to investigate the links between OA, ER stress, and baicalin. Chondrocytes from patients with OA were subjected to H2O2 treatment with or without baicalin pretreatment, and cell viability was assessed via Cell Counting Kit-8. Messenger RNA (mRNA) amounts of apoptosis-related genes (Bax, Bcl-2, and Caspase-3), extracellular matrix (ECM)-related genes (Collange I, Collange II, Aggrecan, and Sox9) and ER stress hallmarks (binding immunoglobulin protein [BiP] C/EBP homologous protein [CHOP]) were evaluated via quantitative real-time PCR. Bax, Bcl-2, BiP, and CHOP protein levels were analyzed via Western blot. Baicalin suppressed the changes in cell viability and apoptosis-related gene expressions caused by H2O2. Reactive oxygen species and glutathione/oxidized glutathione assay showed that H2O2 enhanced oxidative stress. Baicalin suppressed H2O2-induced downregulation of mRNA expression of ECM-related genes. Moreover, baicalin reduced H2O2-stimulated increase in oxidative stress and the expression of ER stress hallmarks. Endoplasmic reticulum stress inducer abolished the protective activities, whereas ER stress inhibitor did not exhibit extra protective effects. Baicalin pretreatment protected patient-derived chondrocytes from H2O2 through ER stress inhibition.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Feng ◽  
Ruixia Cui ◽  
Zeyu Li ◽  
Xia Zhang ◽  
Yifan Jia ◽  
...  

Acetaminophen- (APAP-) induced hepatic injury is an important clinical challenge. Oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) contribute to the pathogenesis. Methane has potential anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiapoptotic properties. This project was aimed at studying the protective effects and relative mechanisms of methane in APAP-induced liver injury. In the in vivo experiment, C57BL/6 mice were treated with APAP (400 mg/kg) to induce hepatic injury followed by methane-rich saline (MRS) 10 ml/kg i.p. after 12 and 24 h. We observed that MRS alleviated the histopathological lesions in the liver, decreased serum aminotransferase levels, reduced the levels of inflammatory cytokines, suppressed the nuclear factor-κB expression. Further, we found that MRS relieved oxidative stress by regulating the Nrf2/HO-1/NQO1 signaling pathway and their downstream products after APAP challenge. MRS also regulated proteins associated with ERS-induced apoptosis. In the in vitro experiment, the L-02 cell line was treated with APAP (10 mM) to induce hepatic injury. We found that a methane-rich medium decreased the levels of reactive oxygen species (DHE fluorescent staining), inhibited apoptosis (cell flow test), and regulated the Nrf2/HO-1/NQO1 signaling pathway. Our data indicated that MRS prevented APAP-induced hepatic injury via anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-ERS, and antiapoptotic properties involving the Nrf2/HO-1/NQO1 signaling pathway.


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