Ginkgo Biloba Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Ginkgo Biloba, including details on ginkgo biloba, herbal remedies, side effects, benefits. | ||||||||
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Effects of Ginkgolide B on 6-OHDA-induced apoptosis and calcium over load in cultured PC12.Meng H, Li C, Feng L, Cheng B, Wu F, Wang X, Li Z, Liu S Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine of Shandong University, Jinan, China. Ginkgolide B, one of the major components of Ginkgo biloba extracts, is a potent platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptor antagonist, which is also regarded as having neuroprotective effects on the CNS. The aim of this research is to observe the effects of Ginkgolide B on the PC12 apoptosis induced by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) and to explore whether these effects are related to the changes of intracellular Ca(2+) and Calbindin D28K mRNA in PC12 cells. In the present work, the damage of PC12 cells was induced by 100muM 6-OHDA. The cells survival rate was examined by MTT assays. The intracellular free calcium concentration in PC12 cells was measured by using the fluorescent Ca(2+) indicator fluo-3/AM. Semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was employed to determine the expression of Calbindin D28K mRNA in PC12. The data show that the Ginkgolide B inhibited PC12 cells apoptosis induced by 6-OHDA in a dose-dependent manner, and decreased the activity of caspase-3. In addition, Ginkgolide B increased the expression of Calbindin D28K mRNA and inhibited 6-OHDA-induced elevation in the intracellular calcium concentration. Our results showed that the Ginkgolide B inhibited the apoptosis of PC12 induced by 6-OHDA, and the protective effects of Ginkgolide B on PC12 cells are mediated, at least in part, by up-regulating the Calbindin D28K mRNA and by decreasing the intracellular calcium concentration. Published 7 December 2007 in Int J Dev Neurosci, 25(8): 509-14.
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