Cytoprotective mechanism of torularhodin against oxidative stress

This study aims to investigate the cytoprotective mechanism of torularhodin against oxidative stress.PC12 cells were randomly divided into control group and model group( 200 μmol/L H₂O₂), lycopene group(20 μmol/L lycopene+200 μmol/L H₂O₂,positive control group) and torularhodin groups(1 μmol/L torularhodin+200 μmol/L H₂O₂,2 μmol/L torularhodin+200 μmol/L H₂O₂ and 3 μmol/L torularhodin+200 μmol/L H₂O₂). The changes of PC12 cell morphology were observed,while the apoptosis rate of cell,the activity of Caspase-3 and expressions of pro-apoptotic protein Bax and anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 were also detected. Results showed that 3 μmol/L torularhodin could maintain the original shape of cell,reduce 11.6% apoptosis rate(p<0.05) and inhibit 62.92% Caspase-3 activity(p<0.01),comparing with the model group. Further study demonstrated that torularhodin could down-regulate the expression of Bax(p<0.01) and up-regulate the expression of Bcl-2(p<0.01),which thereby prevented chain reaction of apoptosis and protected cells from oxidative stress. In a word,torularhodin could effectively protect cells against oxidative stress,by mechanisms which probably involves the inhibition of Caspase-3 activity and adjustment of Bax,Bcl-2 expression in dose-dependent manner.