Moracenin D from Mori Cortex Radicis protects SH-SY5Y cells against dopamine-induced cell death by regulating nurr1 and α-synuclein expression

In our efforts to find neuroprotective materials of plant origin, several compounds were isolated from Mori Cortex Radicis. The protective effect against dopamine-induced cell death was examined, and the subsequent effects on the levels of expression of Parkinson's disease-associated nurr1 and α-synuclein were evaluated in a dopamine-induced system. Five compounds were isolated and moracenin D protected cell death against dopamine-induction in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. The effects of moracenin D on the levels of mRNA and protein expression of nurr1 and α-synuclein were subsequently examined using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot analysis. Treatment with moracenin D resulted in an up-regulation of nurr1 mRNA levels and a down-regulation of α-synuclein mRNA levels. Additionally, the α-synuclein protein expression was decreased in accordance with an increase in nurr1 protein expression. These results demonstrate that the protective effects of moracenin D were presumably due to the correlative effects on the up-regulation of nurr1 and down-regulation of α-synuclein expressions against dopamine induction. Therefore, moracenin D can be considered as a candidate for therapy for Parkinson's disease.