Abstract

Chronic alcoholic dementia has crucial role in progress of neurodegenerative disease and affects a large portion of our aging population. Neuronal cell apoptosis may be a contributing factor of neurodegenerative disease (ND) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Previous researches have indicated that Notch-1 signaling pathway is related with learning and memory ability. Mutations of Notch-1 are reported to accelerate the onset of AD and PD. Despite much investigation, very little is known about the exact role of Notch-1 in ND. In our present study, we used neuronal PC12 cell line to study the regulation role of Notch-1 in ethanol-induced cell apoptosis. 3-(4,5-Dimethythiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used for detection of the proliferation of PC12 cells upon ethanol treatment. Changes in PC12 cell nuclear morphology was detected with Hoechst 33258/propidium iodide (PI) double-staining. Western blot was used for detecting the level of cell apoptosis-related protein. At the same time, Notch-1 signaling activity was detected through enzymatic assay and Western blot. Our results demonstrate that PC12 cell apoptosis was induced by ethanol modulated by Notch-1 signaling pathway.

Key words: Neuronal PC12 cell, neurodegenerative disease, ethanol, Notch-1.