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Lycium barbarum Polysaccharide Promotes Nigrostriatal Dopamine Function by Modulating PTEN/AKT/mTOR Pathway in a Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) Murine Model of Parkinson’s Disease

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Abstract

To investigate the effects of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) on pathological symptoms and behavioral deficits in a Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced Parkinson’s disease (PD) mouse model. The therapeutic effects of LBP were monitored with an Open field test, a Rotarod test and a Morris water maze test. We also investigated the mechanisms with qRT-PCR and Western blotting analyses. After a relatively short-term LBP treatment, the total distance and walking time of PD mice significantly increased. The staying duration on the rod of PD mice increased in the Rotarod test. LBP can up-regulate levels of SOD2, CAT and GPX1 and inhibit the abnormal aggregation of α-synuclein induced by MPTP. LBP treatment can also up-regulate the phosphorylation of AKT and mTOR, and may play its protective role by activating the PTEN/AKT/mTOR signaling axis. These results suggest that LBP can effectively alleviate the degeneration in the nigrostriatal system induced by MPTP treatment. It may be a potential candidate for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 81501135], the Natural science fund for colleges and universities in Jiangsu Province [No. 15KJB310026], the The science and technology projects fund of Yangzhou City [No. YZ2015112]

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China

    Xiaohong Wang, Lei Pang, Yanqing Zhang, Jiang Xu, Dongyi Ding, Tianli Yang, Qian Zhao, Fan Wu, Fei Li & Duonan Yu

  2. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Experimental & Translational Non-Coding RNA Research Noncoding RNA Center, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225001, China

    Xiaohong Wang, Lei Pang, Yanqing Zhang, Dongyi Ding, Fan Wu, Fei Li & Duonan Yu

  3. Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Xiaohong Wang, Lei Pang, Yanqing Zhang & Duonan Yu

  4. Research Center for Sectional and Imaging Anatomy, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, 250012, China

    Haiwei Meng

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  1. Xiaohong Wang
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  2. Lei Pang
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  3. Yanqing Zhang
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  10. Haiwei Meng
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Correspondence to Haiwei Meng or Duonan Yu.

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Wang, X., Pang, L., Zhang, Y. et al. Lycium barbarum Polysaccharide Promotes Nigrostriatal Dopamine Function by Modulating PTEN/AKT/mTOR Pathway in a Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) Murine Model of Parkinson’s Disease. Neurochem Res 43, 938–947 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-018-2499-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-018-2499-6

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