[Effect of alpha-lipoic acid on the apoptosis of PC12 cells induced by 6-hydroxydopamine]

Abstract

PC12 cell line, a clonal cell line derived from a pheochromocytoma of rat adrenal medulla, was used as a model of dopaminergic neuron in vitro to study the effect of alpha-lipoic acid on the 6-OHDA induced apoptosis. The results from MTT method show that 6-OHDA decreased the cell survival rate obviously. Through TUNEL (TdT-mediated dUTP-biotion nick end labeling) and Flow cytometer (FCM) detection, we found that 6-OHDA triggered cell apoptosis and induced necrosis. It was confirmed by the different percentage of cell survival rate and apoptosis concluded from FCM and MTT. alpha-lipoic acid was used as antioxidant to protect the cell from 6-OHDA's injury. The result indicateed that alpha-lipoic acid can partly prevent apoptosis induced by 6-OHDA but fail to prevent necrosis since it can decrease the apoptotic cell from 20.09% to 3.09%, just as increased cell survival rate from 56.8% to 72.6% but can not reach the normal level showed by MTT assay. Biochemical approach showed the cell's antioxidant ability especial for SOD activity and GSH content increased after the treatment of alpha-lipoic acid. The data suggest that alpha-lipoic acid may protect PC12 cells from apoptosis induced by 6-OHDA through the antioxidant path.