Acta Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica (Aug 2022)

N-acetyldopamine dimer inhibits neuroinflammation through the TLR4/NF-κB and NLRP3/Caspase-1 pathways

  • Huang Lijun,
  • Gong Leiqiang,
  • Huo Xueyan,
  • Lei Lirong,
  • Zhang Qi,
  • Hu Yunjie,
  • Kuang Qixuan,
  • Gui Yu,
  • Dai Yifei,
  • Gu Yucheng,
  • Deng Yun,
  • Wang Dong,
  • Guo Dale

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3724/abbs.2022116
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 55
pp. 23 – 33

Abstract

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Neuroinflammation mediated by microglia is an important pathophysiological mechanism in neurodegenerative diseases. However, there is a lack of effective drugs to treat neuroinflammation. N-acetyldopamine dimer (NADD) is a natural compound from the traditional Chinese medicine Isaria cicada. In our previous study, we found that NADD can attenuate DSS-induced ulcerative colitis by suppressing the NF-κB and MAPK pathways. Does NADD inhibit neuroinflammation, and what is the target of NADD? To answer this question, lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV-2 microglia was used as a cell model to investigate the effect of NADD on neuroinflammation. Nitric oxide (NO) detection, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) results show that NADD attenuates inflammatory signals and proinflammatory cytokines in LPS-stimulated BV-2 microglia, including NO, ROS, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Western blot analysis show that NADD inhibits the protein levels of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB), NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3 (NLRP3), ASC and cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase (Caspase)-1, indicating that NADD may inhibit neuroinflammation through the TLR4/NF-κB and NLRP3/Caspase-1 signaling pathways. In addition, surface plasmon resonance assays and molecular docking demonstrate that NADD binds with TLR4 directly. Our study reveals a new role of NADD in inhibiting the TLR4/NF-κB and NLRP3/Caspase-1 pathways, and shows that TLR4-MD2 is the direct target of NADD, which may provide a potential therapeutic candidate for the treatment of neuroinflammation.

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