RESEARCH ARTICLE Triptolide Inhibited Cytotoxicity of Differentiated PC12 Cells Induced by Amyloid-Beta25–35 via the Autophagy Pathway

Evidence shows that an abnormal deposition of amyloid beta-peptide25–35 (Aβ25–35) was the primary cause of the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). And the elimination of Aβ25–35 is considered an important target for the treatment of AD. Triptolide (TP), isolated from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook.f. (TWHF), has been shown to possess a broad spectrum of biological profiles, including neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects. In our study inves-tigating the effect and potential mechanism of triptolide on cytotoxicity of differentiated rat pheochromocytoma cell line (the PC12 cell line is often used as a neuronal developmental model) induced by Amyloid-Beta25–35 (Aβ25–35), we used 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, flow cytometry, Western blot, and acridine orange staining to detect whether triptolide could inhibit Aβ25–35–induced cell apoptosis. We focused on the potential role of the autophagy pathway in Aβ25–35-treated differentiated PC12 cells. Our experiments show that cell viability is significantly decreased, and the apo-ptosis increased in Aβ25–35-treated differentiated PC12 cells. Meanwhile, Aβ25–35 treatment increased the expression of microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 II (LC3 II), whic