2. Academic Validation
  3. Novel antidepressant mechanism of ginsenoside Rg1: Regulating biosynthesis and degradation of connexin43

Novel antidepressant mechanism of ginsenoside Rg1: Regulating biosynthesis and degradation of connexin43

  • J Ethnopharmacol. 2021 Oct 5;278:114212. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2021.114212.
Hui-Qin Wang 1,  Song-Wei Yang 2,  Yan Gao 3,  Ying-Jiao Liu 2,  Xun Li 2,  Qi-Di Ai 2,  Mei-Yu Lin 2,  Yan-Tao Yang 2,  Qi Zeng 2,  Yi Zhang 4,  Zhen-Zhen Wang 5,  Nai-Hong Chen 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Hunan University of Chinese Medicine & Hunan Engineering Technology Center of Standardization and Function of Chinese Herbal Decoction Pieces, Changsha, 410208, Hunan, China; State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica & Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100050, China.
  • 2 Hunan University of Chinese Medicine & Hunan Engineering Technology Center of Standardization and Function of Chinese Herbal Decoction Pieces, Changsha, 410208, Hunan, China.
  • 3 State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica & Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100050, China.
  • 4 Department of Anatomy, School of Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 102488, China.
  • 5 State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica & Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100050, China. Electronic address: wangzz@imm.ac.cn.
  • 6 Hunan University of Chinese Medicine & Hunan Engineering Technology Center of Standardization and Function of Chinese Herbal Decoction Pieces, Changsha, 410208, Hunan, China; State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica & Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100050, China. Electronic address: chennh@imm.ac.cn.
PMID: 34087399 DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2021.114212
Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer is a valuable medicinal herb and "alternative" remedy for the prevention and treatment of depression. Dysfunction of connexin43 (Cx43)-gap junction in astrocytes is predisposed to the precipitation of depression. Ginsenoside Rg1 (Rg1), the main bioactive constituent extracted from ginseng, is efficacious in the management of depression by upregulating the content of Cx43. Our previous results indicated that pretreatment with Rg1 significantly improved Cx43-gap junction in corticosterone (CORT)-treated astrocytes. However, the antidepressant mechanism underlying how Rg1 upregulates Cx43-gap junction in astrocytes hasn't been proposed.

Aim of the study: To dissect the mechanisms of Rg1 controlling Cx43 levels in primary astrocytes.

Methods: We examined the changes of the level of Cx43 mRNA, the degradation of Cx43, as well as the ubiquitin-proteasomal and autophagy-lysosomal degradation pathways of Cx43 followed by Rg1 prior to CORT in rat primary astrocytes isolated from prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Furthermore, the recognized method of scrape loading/dye transfer was performed to detect Cx43-gap junctional function, an essencial indicator of the antidepressant effect.

Results: Pretreatment with Rg1 could reverse CORT-induced downregulation of Cx43 biosynthesis, acceleration of Cx43 degradation, and upregulation of two Cx43 degradation pathways in primary astrocytes.

Conclusion: The findings in the present study provide the first evidence highlighting that Rg1 increases Cx43 protein levels through the upregulation of Cx43 mRNA and downregulation of Cx43 degradation, which may be attributed to the effect of Rg1 on the ubiquitin-proteasomal and autophagy-lysosomal degradation pathways of Cx43.

Keywords

Antidepressant; Biosynthesis; Connexin 43; Degradation; Degradation pathways; Depression; Ginsenoside Rg1.

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