Gold nanoclusters for optimizing the general efficacies of herbal medicines on nerve repair after spinal cord injury. (March 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhou, Zipeng; Li, Dan; Fan, Xiangyi; Lin, Sen; Yuan, Yajiang; Zhuang, Pengfei; Hu, Hengshuo; Ge, Minghao; Chen, Shurui; Mei, Xifan
• Is Part Of: Materials & design. Volume 215(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-03
• Subjects: Gold nanoclusters -- Herbal medicines -- Spinal cord injury -- Inflammation; NLRP3 nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor family protein 3 -- SCI spinal cord injury -- CNS central nervous system -- ROS reactive oxygen species -- NO nitric oxide -- NF-κB nuclear factor kappa B -- ASC apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing caspase recruitment domain -- BRB berberine -- APS astragalus polysaccharides -- DIO diosgenin -- AuNCs gold nanoclusters -- TNF-α tumor necrosis factor-α -- IL-1β interleukin-1β -- FBS fetal bovine serum -- DMEM Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium -- MTT reduction of 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide to a purple formazan product -- HE hematoxylin-eosin -- VMN ventral motor neuron -- BBB Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan -- DMSO dimethyl sulfoxide -- PBS phosphate-buffered saline -- PMSF phenylmethane sulfonyl fluoride -- SDS-PAGE sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis -- PVDF polyvinylidene fluoride -- DAPI 4, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; Materials -- Periodicals; Engineering design -- Periodicals; Matériaux -- Périodiques; Conception technique -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2022.110465
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0264-1275

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: We successfully use gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) to improve the efficiencies of berberine (BRB), astragalus polysaccharides (APS), and diosgenin (DIO) for relieving nerve damages after spinal cord injury (SCI). We found BRB-AuNCs, APS-AuNCs, and DIO-AuNCs reduced the excessive activation of pro-inflammatory M1 type microglia and inhibited the expression of NLRP3, possibly through the NF-κB signaling pathway. The introduction of AuNCs is promising to be developed as a general assistant to optimize the efficiency of herbal medicines for in vivo disease treatment. The current study opens an avenue for magnifying the efficiency of herbal medicines for the treatment of various diseases. Abstract: Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to massive releases of inflammatory factors, which damage nerves and cause neurological disorders. Some herbal medicines show neuroprotective and anti-neuroinflammation effects, which may relieve nerve damages after SCI. Unfortunately, many herbal medicines are insufficient to recover the diseases because of the instability in the physiological environment and weak anti-inflammatory responses. Herein, gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) in conjugation with three herbal medicines including berberine (BRB), astragalus polysaccharides (APS), and diosgenin (DIO) were found to promote the general drug efficiencies, which more remarkably inhibited the inflammation factors such as NF-κB by more than 53.1%, 30.5%, and 30.2% and IKKβ by more than 45.0%, 41.8% and 31.9% respectively in vitro . AuNCs conjugated herbal medicines also reduced inflammatory responses in vivo and more effectively recovers nerve functions after SCI by observing the increased Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) exercise score from 12.2 to 13.2, 11.6 to 14.2, and 11.2 to 12.8 compared to BRB, APS, and DIO only. This work suggests AuNCs may generally promote the therapeutic effects of various herbal medicines.