Withaferin a Attenuates Retinal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury via Akt-Dependent Inhibition of Oxidative Stress

Zheyi Yan; Yuanlin Zhang; Chunfang Wang; Yanjie Li; Qiang Su; Jimin Cao; Xiaoming Cao

doi:10.3390/cells11193113

Withaferin a Attenuates Retinal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury via Akt-Dependent Inhibition of Oxidative Stress

Cells. 2022 Oct 2;11(19):3113. doi: 10.3390/cells11193113.

Authors

Zheyi Yan¹, Yuanlin Zhang², Chunfang Wang¹, Yanjie Li¹, Qiang Su¹, Jimin Cao³, Xiaoming Cao⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, China.
² College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Food Engineering, Shanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Taiyuan 030619, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Cellular Physiology, Ministry of Education, Department of Physiology, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, China.
⁴ Department of Orthopedics, Shanxi Medical University Second Affiliated Hospital, Taiyuan 030000, China.

Abstract

Background: Retinal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury often results in intractable visual impairments. The survival of retinal capillary endothelial cells is crucial for the treatment of retinal I/R injury. How to protect retinal endothelia from damage is a challenging work. Withaferin A, a small molecule derived from plants, has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects and has been used for about millennia in traditional medicine. The present study aimed to investigate the potential protective effect of withaferin A on retinal I/R injury. Methods: The drug-likeness of withaferin A was evaluated by the SwissADME web tool. The potential protective effect of withaferin A on the I/R-induced injury of human retinal microvascular endothelial cells (HRMECs) was investigated using multiple approaches. RNA sequencing was performed and associated mechanistic signaling pathways were analyzed based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes data. The analytical results of RNA sequencing data were further validated by in vitro and in vivo experiments. Results: Withaferin A reduced the I/R injury-induced apoptotic death of HRMECs in vitro with a good drug-like property. RNA sequencing and experimental validation results indicated that withaferin A increased the production of the crucial antioxidant molecules heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and peroxiredoxin 1 (Prdx-1) during I/R. In addition, withaferin A activated the Akt signaling pathway and increased the expression of HO-1 and Prdx-1, thereby exerting an antioxidant effect, attenuated the retinal I/R injury, and decreased the apoptosis of HRMECs. The blockade of Akt completely abolished the effects of withaferin A. Conclusions: The study identified for the first time that withaferin A can protect against the I/R-induced apoptosis of human microvascular retinal endothelial cells via increasing the production of the antioxidants Prdx-1 and HO-1. Results suggest that withaferin A is a promising drug candidate for the treatment of retinal I/R injury.

Keywords: apoptosis; endothelium; oxidative stress; phytochemical; retinal ischemia-reperfusion injury; withaferin A.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
Anti-Inflammatory Agents / pharmacology
Antioxidants / metabolism
Endothelial Cells / metabolism
Heme Oxygenase-1* / metabolism
Humans
Oxidative Stress
Peroxiredoxins / metabolism
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / metabolism
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Reperfusion Injury* / drug therapy
Reperfusion Injury* / metabolism
Withanolides

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Anti-Inflammatory Agents
Antioxidants
Withanolides
Peroxiredoxins
Heme Oxygenase-1
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
withaferin A

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81900892, 82170523), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation 2020M670702 and the Shanxi Special Foundation Program for Returners from Studying Abroad (2021021).