Ginsenoside Rg1 inhibits angiotensin II-induced podocyte autophagy via AMPK/mTOR/PI3K pathway.
Recent researches have reported the extensive pharmacological activities of Ginsenoside Rg1 including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. Furthermore Rg1 was also shown to protect various kinds of cells from self-digestion by its anti-autophagy activity. In previous studies, angiotensin II (Ang II), a key mediator of renin-angiotensin system, has been demonstrated to contribute to the progression of renal injury including abnormal autophagy. However, whether Rg1 can relieve Ang II-induced autophagy in podocyte as well as the underlying molecular mechanism remains to be elucidated. Here, we employed Ang II-treated podocyte as a model to investigate the effect of Rg1 on autophagy and the involved signal pathways. In the present study, we found that Ang II strongly promoted autophagy in immortalized mouse podocyte cells by observing the formation of autophagosomes and detecting the expression of autophagic marker, for example, LC3-II. Notably, compared to the Ang II-treated cells, treatment with Rg1 significantly inhibited the formation of autophagosomes and expression of autophagy-related proteins in Ang II pre-treated podocyte. Meanwhile, Rg1 downregulated the activity of AMPK and GSK-3β and upregulated the activity of P70S6K in Ang II-treated podocyte. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that Ang II promotes autophagy in podocyte, and Rg1 effectively attenuates this process through AMPK/mTOR/PI3K pathway, suggesting that Rg1 may be beneficial to alleviate podocyte injury.
['Mao|Nan|N|', 'Tan|Rui-Zhi|RZ|', 'Wang|Shao-Qing|SQ|', 'Wei|Cong|C|', 'Shi|Xin-Li|XL|', 'Fan|Jun-Ming|JM|', 'Wang|Li|L|']
D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases D000804:Angiotensin II D000818:Animals D000975:Antioxidants D017209:Apoptosis D001343:Autophagy D002460:Cell Line D015536:Down-Regulation D036145:Ginsenosides D051379:Mice D018384:Oxidative Stress D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases D010766:Phosphorylation D050199:Podocytes D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species D015398:Signal Transduction D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases
ginsenoside Rg1 podocyte autophagy Ang II