Recent studies have demonstrated that Notch-1 expression is increased in the hippocampus of Alzheimer's disease patients.
Huimin Liang and co-workers from Second Affliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, China speculate that Notch-1 signaling may be involved in PC12 cell apoptosis induced by amyloid beta-peptide (25-35) (Aβ25-35).
In a study reported in Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 13, 2014), PC12 cells were cultured with different doses (0, 0.1, 1.0, 10 and 100 nmol/L) of N-[N-(3,5-Difuorophen-acetyl)-L-alanyl]-S-phenylglycine t-butyl ester, a Notch-1 signaling pathway inhibitor, for 30 minutes.
Then cultured cells were induced with Aβ25-35 for 48 hours. Pretreatment of PC12 cells with high doses of N-[N-(3,5-Difuorophenacetyl)-L-alanyl]-S-phenylglycine t-butyl ester (> 10 nmol/L) prolonged the survival of PC12 cells after Aβ25-35 induction, decreased the expression of apoptosis-related proteins caspase-3, -8, -9, increased the activity of oxidative stress-related superoxide dismutase and catalase, inhibited the production of active oxygen, and reduced nuclear factor kappa B expression.
This study indicates that the Notch-1 signaling pathway plays a pivotal role in Aβ25-35-induced PC12 apoptosis.
Article: " Role of Notch-1 signaling pathway in PC12 cell apoptosis induced by amyloid beta-peptide (25-35)," by Huimin Liang1, 2, Yaozhou Zhang3, Xiaoyan Shi4, Tianxiang Wei1, Jiyu Lou1 (1 Second Affliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China; 2 Huaihe Hospital of Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan Province, China; 3 Department of Biotechnology, Xinyang Agricultural College, Xinyang, Henan Province, China; 4 Pharmaceutical College of Henan University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China)
Liang HM, Zhang YZ, Shi XY, Wei TX, Lou JY. Role of Notch-1 signaling pathway in PC12 cell apoptosis induced by amyloid beta-peptide (25-35). Neural Regen Res. 2014;9(13):1297-1302.