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Figure 9 | BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Figure 9

From: The protective effect of geniposide on human neuroblastoma cells in the presence of formaldehyde

Figure 9

A putative mechanism for the protective effect of geniposide on cells in the presence of formaldehyde. Formaldehyde targets cell membranes and induces lipid peroxidation, inducing mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and subsequent apoptosis. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), including singlet oxygen, hydrogen peroxide, superoxide anion and hydroxyl radicals, are important mediators of cellular injury, and play an important role in oxidative stress. ROS-initiated oxidative stress can be regulated by cell defense mechanisms, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), which are a class of enzymes that catalyze the dismutation of superoxide and protect the cell from superoxide toxicity. Bcl-2 is the founding member of the Bcl-2 family of apoptosis regulator proteins, which tends to make cells more resistant to oxidative stress and apoptosis. P53 is a key modulator of the cellular stress response, and its activation can trigger apoptosis in many cell types including neurons. Caspase 3 is a key executer of apoptosis, whose activation is mediated by caspase 9. As shown in our results, geniposide is able to increase the activity of SOD and GSHPx and modulate the expression of Bcl-2, P53, caspase 3 and caspase 9, thus inducing a neuroprotective effect on SH-SY5Y cells.

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