An Improved Drugs Screening System Reveals that Baicalein Ameliorates the Aβ/AMPA/NMDA-Induced Depolarization of Neurons

Tian Syuan Lin, Han Jung Tsai, Chih Han Lee, Yan Qing Song, Rih Sheng Huang, Hsiu Mei Hsieh-Li, Mei Chih Liang, Yenshou Lin*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The presence of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaque and tau protein hyperphosphorylation in brain tissue is the pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). At least some Aβ neurotoxicity is caused by the presence of excess glutamate that has been induced by Aβ accumulation. Memantine is currently the only NMDA receptor inhibitor approved for treating moderate-to-severe AD patients. We utilized primary cortical neurons and DiBAC4(3), a slow-response voltage sensitive fluorescence dye, to create a novel system for screening herbal medicines that allows the identification of pure compounds able to ameliorate Aβ-induced abnormal depolarization. The intensity of DiBAC4(3) fluorescence was increased when primary neurons were stimulated by Aβ; furthermore, pre-treatment with memantine abolished this change. Using this system, we identified six crude extracts made from herbal medicines that effectively alleviated this Aβ-induced abnormal depolarization. Among these herbal medicines, one pure compound, baicalein, which was known to be present in Scutellaria baricalensis and is known to improve memory using an AD mouse model, was identified by our assay. However, the compound's molecular mechanism remained unknown. We found that baicalein, in addition to inhibiting Aβ-induced depolarization, possibly functions as an antagonist of AMPA and NMDA receptors. Taken together, we have established a system/platform to identify herbal medicines that ameliorate Aβ-induced depolarization of neurons. Equally important, baicalein is a candidate drug with great potential for the treatment of AD patients.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)959-976
Number of pages18
JournalJournal of Alzheimer's Disease
Volume56
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Keywords

  • Alzheimer's disease
  • DiBAC4(3)
  • amyloid-
  • baicalein
  • glutamate receptors
  • memantine

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Geriatrics and Gerontology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'An Improved Drugs Screening System Reveals that Baicalein Ameliorates the Aβ/AMPA/NMDA-Induced Depolarization of Neurons'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this