Natalia V. Palyanova, Tatyana M. Pankova, Marina V. Starostina, Alla A. Kicha,Natalia V. Ivanchina and Valentin A. Stonik Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, SB RAMS, Novosibirsk 630117, Russia 2 Elyakov Pacific Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, FEB RAS, Vladivostok 690022, Russia

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 5 March 2013; in revised form: 18 April 2013 / Accepted: 22 April 2013 / Published: 3 May 2013
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from the 1st Symposium on Marine Enzymes and Polysaccharides)
PDF Full-text Download PDF Full-Text [1137 KB, uploaded 3 May 2013 14:27 CEST]

Abstract: The neuritogenic and neuroprotective activities of six starfish polar steroids, asterosaponin Р1, (25S)-5α-cholestane-3β,4β,6α,7α,8,15α,16β,26-octaol, and (25S)-5α-cholestane-3β,6α,7α,8,15α,16β,26-heptaol (1–3) from the starfish Patiria pectinifera and distolasterosides D1–D3 (4–6) from the starfish Distolasterias nipon were analyzed using the mouse neuroblastoma (NB) C-1300 cell line and an organotypic rat hippocampal slice culture (OHSC). All of these compounds enhanced neurite outgrowth in NB cells. Dose-dependent responses to compounds 1–3 were observed within the concentration range of 10–100 nM, and dose-dependent responses to glycosides 4–6 were observed at concentrations of 1–50 nM. All the tested substances exhibited notable synergistic effects with trace amounts of nerve growth factor (NGF, 1 ng/mL) or brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF, 0.1 ng/mL). Using NB cells and OHSCs, it was shown for the first time that starfish steroids 1–6 act as neuroprotectors against oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) by increasing the number of surviving cells. Altogether, these results suggest that neurotrophin-like neuritogenic and neuroprotective activities are most likely common properties of starfish polyhydroxysteroids and the related glycosides, although the magnitude of the effect depended on the particular compound structure.