The molecular mechanism of polygalasaponin F-mediated decreases in TNFα: emphasizing the role of the TLR4-PI3K/AKT-NF-κB pathway

Polygalasaponin F (PS-F), an oleanane-type triterpenoid saponin extracted from Polygala japonica, decreases the release of the inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), but the precise molecular mechanisms by which this event occurs are not fully understood. To study the anti-neuroinflammatory mechanisms of PS-F, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the secretion of TNFα from BV-2 microglial cells. Nuclear proteins extracted from BV-2 microglial cells stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and pretreated with/without inhibitors were measured by Western blotting, and cell viability was evaluated by MTT analysis. The results indicated that inhibition of toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 (CLI-095 1 μg/ml), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) (Ly294002 10 μM) or IκBα phosphorylation (Bay11-7082 10 μM) completely prevents the release of TNFα induced by LPS without affecting cell viability and attenuated the nuclear translocation of p65 stimulated by LPS. In addition, PS-F exhibited a similar trend regarding TNFα release, AKT phosphorylation and NF-κB translocation. These results suggest that PS-F reduces neuroinflammatory cytokine secretion through the regulation of the TLR4-PI3K/AKT-NF-κB signaling pathway.