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Melatonin protects N2a against ischemia/reperfusion injury through autophagy enhancement

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Summary

Researches have shown that melatonin is neuroprotectant in ischemia/reperfusion-mediated injury. Although melatonin is known as an effective antioxidant, the mechanism of the protection cannot be explained merely by antioxidation. This study was devoted to explore other existing mechanisms by investigating whether melatonin protects ischemia/reperfusion-injured neurons through elevating autophagy, since autophagy has been frequently suggested to play a crucial role in neuron survival. To find it out, an ischemia/reperfusion model in N2a cells was established for examinations. The results showed that autophagy was significantly enhanced in N2a cells treated with melatonin at reperfusion onset following ischemia and greatly promoted cell survival, while autophagy blockage by 3-MA led to the shortened N2a cell survival as assessed by MTT, transmission electron microscopy, and laser confocal scanning microscopy. Besides, the protein levels of LC3II and Beclin1 were remarkably increased in ischemia/reperfusion-injured N2a in the presence of melatonin, whereas the expression of p-PKB, key kinase in PI3K/PKB signaling pathway, showed a decrease when compared with untreated subjects as accessed by immunoblotting. Taken together these data suggest that autophagy is possibly one of the mechanisms underlying neuroprotection of melatonin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China

    Yanchun Guo  (国艳春), Jianfei Wang  (王剑飞), Yi Yang  (杨 易), Ximing Wang  (王西明) & Qiuhong Duan  (段秋红)

  2. Department of Emergency Medicine, Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Command, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Zhongqiang Wang  (王忠强)

Authors
  1. Yanchun Guo  (国艳春)
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  2. Jianfei Wang  (王剑飞)
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  3. Zhongqiang Wang  (王忠强)
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  4. Yi Yang  (杨 易)
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  5. Ximing Wang  (王西明)
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  6. Qiuhong Duan  (段秋红)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qiuhong Duan  (段秋红).

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The authors contributed equally to this wore.

This project was supported by a grant from the PhD Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (No. 20070487101).

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Guo, Y., Wang, J., Wang, Z. et al. Melatonin protects N2a against ischemia/reperfusion injury through autophagy enhancement. J. Huazhong Univ. Sci. Technol. [Med. Sci.] 30, 1–7 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-010-0101-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-010-0101-9

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