A investigação do potencial terapêutico de compostos naturais não tóxicos capazes de prevenir ou reduzir o impacto do estresse oxidativo em doenças inflamatórias diretamente relacionadas a dor tem exercido um papel fundamental no desenvolvimento de novas medicamentos. O ácido chiquímico (ACH) é um composto natural originalmente extraído da Illicium verum Hook. f., uma planta medicinal usada no tratamento de doenças inflamatórias. Apesar do ACH ter sido usado como um precursor químico na síntese do antiviral Tamiflu®, o seu potencial como um composto anti-inflamatório e antioxidante, já enraizado pelo uso popular, ainda permanece desconhecido. Baseado nisso, o objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a atividade antioxidante, anti-inflamatória e antinociceptiva do ACH em modelos in vitro e in vivo. Inicialmente as propriedades físico-químicas do ACH foram avaliadas e a atividade antioxidante comprovada, bem como seu potencial de proteger a morte celular induzida por peróxido de hidrogênio em células de neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y. O ACH atenuou a inflamação induzida pelo LPS em macrófagos RAW 264.7, foi capaz de inibir a produção de citocinas (TNF-α e IL-β) e de NO, assim como a ativação das MAPKs (ERK1/2 e P38) induzida pelo LPS, sugerindo que o ACH pode exercer uma atividade anti-inflamatória. In vivo, o ACH bloqueou a hiperalgesia mediada pela carragenina (CG), TNF-α, prostaglandinas (PEG2) e dopamina (DA) em camundongos. Esses resultados sugerem que o efeito antinociceptivo do ACH pode ser atribuído, em parte, a sua ação antioxidante e anti-inflamatória, dois mecanismos que sustentam a transdução do sinal doloroso. / The investigation of the therapeutic potential of natural non-toxic compounds capable of counteracting oxidative stress associated with inflammatory disease and painful conditions, has been of key interest in drug development. Shiquimic acid (SA) is a nature-derived compound originally extracted from Illicium verum Hook. f., a chinese medicinal herb used to treat inflammatory diseases. Even though SA has currently been used as a chemical precursor for synthesis of the antiviral Tamiflu, its potential as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compound – already rooted by its popular use - remains unknown until now. Based on that, the aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activity of SA in vitro and in vivo models. Initially the physic-chemical properties of SA were evaluated and proven antioxidant activity, as well as its potential to protect hydrogen peroxide-induced cell death in neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. SA attenuates LPS-induced inflammation in RAW 264.7 macrophages, SA was capable of inhibiting TNF-α and IL-1β cytokines production, NO production as well as LPS-induced activation of MAPKs (p38 and ERK1/2), thus suggesting that SA may exert anti-inflammatory activity. In vivo, SA blocked carrageenan, TNF-alpha-, prostaglandin (PE2)-, and dopamine-induced hyperalgesia in mice. These results suggest that anti-nociceptive effect of SA could be attributed, at least in part, to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions, two mechanisms underpinning painful signal transduction.

The dopaminergic neurodegeneration in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) is responsible for the marked motor impairment observed in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this are not completely understood. Since by the time of diagnosis, 50-70% of the dopaminergic neurons of the nigrostriatal pathway have already been degenerated, it is difficult to investigate the early-stage events of disease pathogenesis. Due to inaccessibility of the human brain to study initial pathogenic mechanisms of the disease, experimental models have been developed in an attempt to elucidate PD etiology and its progression. Nevertheless, PD models are a controversial issue in neuroscience research since it is challenging to mimic human neuronal complexity. Therefore, the lack of optimal models that recreate disease pathology is one of the causes of failure of clinical trials that have attempted to find new/better PD therapies. Taking this in consideration, the development of more suitable models is necessary to improve our knowledge regarding PD etiological mechanisms. Additionally, the understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of models already established would also be beneficial for PD research, which our group addressed by reviewing this subject. Considering this, we chose SH-SY5Y cells as a PD model for our studies. To investigate the initial stages of PD-induced neurodegeneration, our work focused in the role of cofilin-1, a protein involved in mitochondrial dysfunction caused by oxidant-induced-apoptosis, which are two pathogenic processes strongly related to PD. Hence, in the thesis, we aimed to validate the use of retinoic-acid-(RA)-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells as an in vitro model and use it to investigate the potential role of cofilin-1 in the initial molecular and cellular mechanisms of PD. Although SH-SY5Y cells are widely used in PD research, their major drawback is their lack of important neuronal features, such as low levels of proliferation and stellate morphology. On the other hand, SH-SY5Y cells can acquire a neuronal phenotype when treated with differentiation agents such as RA. Since several protocols have been described, the consequence of which may be the discrepancies observed among studies regarding neuronal and dopaminergic features. In Chapter I, we aimed to validate a RA-differentiation protocol for SH-SY5Y cells previously established by our research group, focusing upon characterization of neuronal features and its subsequent response to 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), a toxin widely used to induce dopaminergic degeneration. RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells have low proliferative rates, a pronounced neuronal morphology and high expression of genes related to synapse vesicle cycle, dopamine synthesis/degradation, and dopamine transporter (DAT). After exploring phenotypic differences between these two models, we verified that RA-differentiated cells were more sensitive to 6-OHDA toxicity than undifferentiated cells, which could be related to an increase of DAT immunocontent. Many lines of evidence have showed that DAT is responsible for 6-OHDA uptake in vivo. Once inside the neuron, 6-OHDA underwent auto-oxidation causing a significant increase in oxidative stress. However, toxin uptake is not an essential step in undifferentiated SH-SY5Y cells, as auto-oxidation occurs extracellularly. We showed here, for the first time, that RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells can mimic, at least in part, an important mechanism of the 6-OHDA-induced cell death found in previous in vivo studies. Hence, the cellular model established by our research group presents essential neuronal features, being a suitable model for PD research. In Chapter II, RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells were used as cellular model to investigate disease molecular mechanisms, focusing upon cofilin-1. Our previous data have shown that oxidation of non-phosphorylate (activated) cofilin-1 leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death induced by apoptosis in tumour cells. Here we found that cofilin-1 played a role in early stages of neuronal apoptosis induced by 6-OHDA in our cellular model since cofilin-1 mitochondrial translocation precedes organelle dysfunction. Overexpression of wild type CFL1 resulted in increased sensitivity of SH-SY5Y cells to 6-OHDA-induced neuronal cell death. Furthermore, overexpression of non-oxidizable CFL1 containing Cys-to-Ala mutations (positions 39, 80 and 139) increased neuronal resistance to this toxin, suggesting that oxidation is an important step in 6-OHDA toxicity. Follow-up experiments were performed in order to evaluate clinically whether cofilin-1 pathway proteins content is altered in PD post mortem human brain. Our findings showed a significant decrease in p-cofilin-1/cofilin-1 ratio in PD patients, which indicates an increase in the amount of activated cofilin-1 available for oxidation. Moreover, through principal component analysis, the immunodetection of cofilin-1 pathway proteins were able to discriminate controls and PD individuals during the early-stage of neuropathological changings. Hence, we demonstrated, for the first time, a possible role for cofilin-1 in PD pathogenesis and its potential use as biomarker. Taken together, our data showed that RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells present terminally-differentiated dopaminergic neuron features, that are essential to mimic dopaminergic neurons. By using this cellular model and post mortem brain tissue, we also demonstrated a possible role for cofilin-1 in early steps of the neurodegeneration process found in PD, which it could impact drug and biomarker discovery researches.

O crescente interesse científico relacionado ao estudo das propriedades dos grãos de arroz vermelho (Oryza glaberrima) e preto (Oryza sativa) está atrelado ao elevado teor nutricional desses grãos. Quando submetidos ao processo de beneficiamento, eles geram subprodutos, entre os quais a quirera e o farelo, ricos em amido e compostos fenólicos, respectivamente. Uma vez consideradas as diferenças varietais dos grãos e o potencial uso dos seus subprodutos, os objetivos deste trabalho foram, primeiramente, determinar a composição química e o perfil de compostos bioativos desses grãos e, sequencialmente, avaliar sua atividade antioxidante por meio da análise do efeito protetor de células SH- SY5Y. Posteriormente, esses grãos e seus subprodutos foram utilizados como material para o desenvolvimento de filmes biodegradáveis. A identificação e quantificação de compostos fenólicos foi avaliada em extratos da fração farelo de ambos os grãos, por ser essa a fração que contém sua maior concentração. Os resultados evidenciaram que o ácido ferúlico foi o principal composto fenólico encontrado em ambas as amostras. Enquanto no farelo de arroz preto a cianidina-3-glicosídeo foi a antocianina majoritária, no farelo de arroz vermelho foi identificada a presença de proantocianidinas Com relação à atividade antioxidante, o ensaio realizado em cultura de células SH-SY5Y, demonstrou que os extratos de ambos os farelos de arroz, nas duas concentrações testadas (10 and 50 μg/mL), apresentam um efeito protetor contra as espécies reativas geradas pelo H2O2 (ensaio DCFH-DA) e, esse resultado foi relacionado à presença de compostos bioativos, especialmente ácidos fenólicos e antocianinas. Devido às propriedades físico-químicas e antioxidantes, amido e farinha de arroz vermelho foram utilizados para o desenvolvimento de filmes biodegradáveis. Foram desenvolvidas formulações contendo diferentes proporções de farinha e amido (10:0, 9:1, 7:3, 5:5 e 0:10, p/p). A incorporação de amido nos filmes de farinha promoveu melhora das propriedades mecânicas e estruturais e, redução da permeabilidade ao vapor de água. Baseado na excelente atividade de sequestro do radical DPPH. e no menor custo de produção, a formulação 9:1 foi escolhida para ser aplicada na forma de sachê para análise da estabilidade de óleo de girassol armazenado sob condições de oxidação acelerada. Os resultados demonstraram que os filmes foram eficazes como embalagem protetora impedindo a formação de produtos de degradação primários (peróxidos e dienos conjugados) e secundários (trienos conjugados) durante o armazenamento. A partir dos resultados obtidos neste trabalho, fica evidenciada a possibilidade de utilização dos grãos de arroz vermelho e preto e seus subprodutos como matérias-primas promissoras para o desenvolvimento de embalagens biodegradáveis fonte de compostos antioxidantes. / The increase scientific interest related to the study of the properties of red (Oryza glaberrima) and black rice (Oryza sativa) grains is related to the high nutritional content of these grains. When submitted to the polishing process, they generate by-products, among them broken grains and bran, rich in starch and phenolic compounds, respectively. Once considered varietal differences of the grains, and the potential use of their by-products, the goals of this work were, firstly, to determine the chemical composition and the bioactive compounds profile of these grains and, sequentially evaluate their antioxidant activity by analyzing the protective effect of SH-SY5Y cells. Subsequently, these grains and their by-products were used as material for the development of biodegradable films. The identification and quantification of phenolic compounds was evaluated in extracts of the bran fraction of both grains, since this is the fraction that contains the highest concentration of them. The results showed that ferulic acid was the main phenolic compound found in both samples. While in the black rice bran cyanidin-3-glycoside was the major anthocyanin, in the red rice bran the presence of proanthocyanidins was identified. In relation to the antioxidant activity, the SHSY5Y cell culture assay showed that the extracts from both rice bran, at both concentrations tested (10 and 50 μg/ mL), had a protective effect against the reactive species generated by H2O2 (DCFH-DA assay) and this result was related to the presence of bioactive compounds, especially phenolic acids and anthocyanins. Due to the physicochemical and antioxidant properties, starch and red rice flour were used for the development of biodegradable films Formulations containing different ratios of flour and starch (10:0, 9:1, 7:3, 5:5 and 0:10, w/w) were developed. The incorporation of starch in the flour films promoted improved mechanical and structural properties, and reduced permeability to water vapor. Based on excellent scavenging activity of DPPH radical and lowest production cost, the 9: 1 formulation was chosen to be applied in the form of sachets to analyze the stability of sunflower oil stored under accelerated oxidation conditions. The results demonstrated that the films were effective as protective packaging preventing the formation of primary degradation products (peroxides and conjugated dienes) and secondary (conjugated trienes) during the storage. Based on the results obtained in this work, it was confirmed the possibility of using red and black rice grains and their by-products as promising raw materials for the development of biodegradable packaging source of antioxidant compounds.

A investigação do potencial terapêutico de compostos naturais não tóxicos capazes de prevenir ou reduzir o impacto do estresse oxidativo em doenças inflamatórias diretamente relacionadas a dor tem exercido um papel fundamental no desenvolvimento de novas medicamentos. O ácido chiquímico (ACH) é um composto natural originalmente extraído da Illicium verum Hook. f., uma planta medicinal usada no tratamento de doenças inflamatórias. Apesar do ACH ter sido usado como um precursor químico na síntese do antiviral Tamiflu®, o seu potencial como um composto anti-inflamatório e antioxidante, já enraizado pelo uso popular, ainda permanece desconhecido. Baseado nisso, o objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a atividade antioxidante, anti-inflamatória e antinociceptiva do ACH em modelos in vitro e in vivo. Inicialmente as propriedades físico-químicas do ACH foram avaliadas e a atividade antioxidante comprovada, bem como seu potencial de proteger a morte celular induzida por peróxido de hidrogênio em células de neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y. O ACH atenuou a inflamação induzida pelo LPS em macrófagos RAW 264.7, foi capaz de inibir a produção de citocinas (TNF-α e IL-β) e de NO, assim como a ativação das MAPKs (ERK1/2 e P38) induzida pelo LPS, sugerindo que o ACH pode exercer uma atividade anti-inflamatória. In vivo, o ACH bloqueou a hiperalgesia mediada pela carragenina (CG), TNF-α, prostaglandinas (PEG2) e dopamina (DA) em camundongos. Esses resultados sugerem que o efeito antinociceptivo do ACH pode ser atribuído, em parte, a sua ação antioxidante e anti-inflamatória, dois mecanismos que sustentam a transdução do sinal doloroso. / The investigation of the therapeutic potential of natural non-toxic compounds capable of counteracting oxidative stress associated with inflammatory disease and painful conditions, has been of key interest in drug development. Shiquimic acid (SA) is a nature-derived compound originally extracted from Illicium verum Hook. f., a chinese medicinal herb used to treat inflammatory diseases. Even though SA has currently been used as a chemical precursor for synthesis of the antiviral Tamiflu, its potential as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compound – already rooted by its popular use - remains unknown until now. Based on that, the aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activity of SA in vitro and in vivo models. Initially the physic-chemical properties of SA were evaluated and proven antioxidant activity, as well as its potential to protect hydrogen peroxide-induced cell death in neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. SA attenuates LPS-induced inflammation in RAW 264.7 macrophages, SA was capable of inhibiting TNF-α and IL-1β cytokines production, NO production as well as LPS-induced activation of MAPKs (p38 and ERK1/2), thus suggesting that SA may exert anti-inflammatory activity. In vivo, SA blocked carrageenan, TNF-alpha-, prostaglandin (PE2)-, and dopamine-induced hyperalgesia in mice. These results suggest that anti-nociceptive effect of SA could be attributed, at least in part, to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions, two mechanisms underpinning painful signal transduction.

Os mecanismos moleculares que levam ao dano da via nigroestriatal durante a progressão da Doença de Parkinson (DP) ainda não estão totalmente elucidados. Dessa forma, existe a necessidade de desenvolver modelos experimentais adequados para o estudo desse distúrbio neurodegenerativo. A linhagem de neuroblastoma humano SH-SY5Y tratada com neurotoxinas indutoras deste distúrbio (ex.: 6-hidroxidopamina - 6-OHDA) é amplamente utilizada como modelo in vitro da DP. Muitos estudos mostram que esta linhagem pode ser diferenciada em células dopaminérgicas através da combinação da diminuição do soro fetal bovino (SFB) em meio de cultura e da adição de neurotrofinas como o ácido retinóico (AR). No entanto, há poucos estudos mostrando as diferenças entre células proliferativas e diferenciadas da linhagem de neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y, além do efeito do tratamento com 6-OHDA. Ainda, não há um consenso nos protocolos de diferenciação. Dessa forma, o objetivo deste estudo foi estabelecer um protocolo de diferenciação dopaminérgica da linhagem de neuroblastoma humano SH-SY5Y, bem como avaliar a potencialidade do modelo como plataforma para o screening de neurotoxicidade/neuroproteção de compostos e a possibilidade de manipulação gênica. As células proliferativas SH-SY5Y foram mantidas em meio de cultura DMEM/F12 (1:1) suplementado com 10% de SFB. A diferenciação foi induzida pela combinação de 10 μM de AR e meio de cultura com 1% de SFB durante 4, 7 e 10 dias. Foram avaliados parâmetros morfológicos (presença de neuritos) e neuroquímicos, através marcadores de diferenciação neuronal (DAT- transportador de dopamina; TH – tirosina hidroxilase; ENS – enolase neurônio específica; NeuN – proteína nuclear de neurônio; Nestina). Ainda, avaliamos parâmetros de estresse oxidativo através da atividade de enzimas antioxidantes e dos níveis de tióis reduzidos. Nossos dados mostraram que as células SH-SY5Y diferenciadas por 7 dias apresentaram mudanças morfológicas e o aumento do imunoconteúdo de todos os marcadores neuronais testados, e a concomitantemente diminuição do imunoconteúdo de nestina (marcador de células indiferenciadas). Além disso, o fenótipo neuronal apresentou uma maior atividade de alguns sistemas antioxidantes. Também foi avaliada a citotoxicidade frente ao H2O2 e à 6-OHDA nos dois fenótipos. As células diferenciadas se mostraram mais resistentes ao dano causado pelo H2O2 e mais sensíveis à 6-OHDA. Dessa forma, a citotoxicidade da 6-OHDA pode estar relacionada com o aumento do imunoconteúdo do DAT, visto que a neurotoxina entra na célula dopaminérgica através deste transportador. Interessantemente, as células diferenciadas apresentaram aumento dos níveis da proteína neuroprotetora DJ-1, que está relacionada a uma forma prematura de Parkinsonismo em humanos. Após a caracterização do modelo, nós utilizamos o fenótipo diferenciado como plataforma experimental para o screening de compostos neuroprotetores como os organocalcogênios. Nós determinamos a citotoxidade destes compostos em células diferenciadas da linhagem de neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y. A partir destes dados, foram selecionados compostos com baixa citotoxicidade e avaliamos a morfologia celular (densidade de neuritos). Nós verificamos que antes da perda de viabilidade, ocorre a perda de neuritos, sendo que este parâmetro é outra vantagem do modelo de célula diferenciada para avaliação da neurototoxicidade. Ainda, verificamos que estes compostos são capazes de prevenir o dano celular causado pela 6-OHDA. Além disso, nós caracterizamos a capacidade do modelo de ser manipulado geneticamente através da transfecção e superexpressão de plasmídeo contendo a proteína verde fluorescente, onde verificamos que a expressão é mantida durante a diferenciação. Dessa forma, nossos dados mostraram a eficácia da padronização da diferenciação induzida por AR da linhagem de neuroblastoma humano SH-SY5Y, pois estas células apresentam características morfológicas e neuroquímicas adequadas de neurônio dopaminérgico bem como pode ser aplicado não só para avaliação de neurototoxicidade/neuroproteção, mas também pode ser manipulado geneticamente. / The molecular mechanisms underlying the massive cellular loss found in the nigrostriatal pathway during the progression of Parkinson’s disease (PD) are not completely understood. Therefore, it is important to develop more suitable experimental models to study the molecular mechanisms of this neurodegenerative disorder. Proliferative human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y challenged with neurotoxins (e.g.: 6-hydroxydopamine – 6-OHDA) has been widely used as an in vitro model for PD. Many lines of evidence showed that this cell line differentiates with the combination of lower fetal bovine serum (FBS) and retinoic acid (RA) to dopaminergic-like neural cell. However, there are few studies addressing the differences between proliferative and RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells as well as their responses to 6-OHDA cytotoxicity. Moreover, there is no consensus in differentiation protocols. Hence, the objective of this study was to establish a RAinduced dopaminergic differentiation protocol and also evaluate its capabilities for drug screening of neurotoxicity/neuroprotection and genetic manipulation. Exponentially growing SH-SY5Y cells were maintained with DMEM/F12 (1:1) medium plus 10% FBS. Differentiation was triggered by the combination of 10 μM of RA plus medium with 1% of FBS during 4, 7 and 10 days. We evaluated the cell morphology (neurites) and the neuronal markers (Dopamine Transporter- DAT, Tyrosine Hydroxylase-TH, Neuron-Specific Enolase-NSE, Neuronal Nuclei Protein- NeuN, and Nestin immunocontent). Furthermore, we verify the activity of antioxidant enzymes and the reduced thiol levels. Our data demonstrated that SH-SY5Y cells differentiated for 7 days expresses all neuronal markers tested with concomitant decrease in nondifferentiated marker (nestin). Besides, they showed a higher activity of some antioxidant systems. We also evaluated the cytotoxicity of H2O2 and 6-OHDA in both phenotypes. Differentiated cells are more resistant to H2O2 and more sensitive to 6- OHDA. Hence, the damage caused by 6-OHDA could be related with the increase of DAT immuncontent, because this neurotoxin enters into the dopaminergic cell through this transporter. Interestingly, the differentiated cells have more levels of neuroprotective DJ-1 protein, which is related with a juvenile Parkinsonism. After establish the conditions of differentiation, we used the neuronal phenotype to perform a drug screening with organoselenide compounds. We verify the cytotoxicity of these compounds in differentiated cells. From these data, we selected compounds with low toxicity and evaluated the cell morphology (neurites density). We verify that before the loss of viability, there is a loss of neurites. This parameter is another advantage of the differentiated cells model to neurotoxicity evaluation. Moreover, these compounds were able to prevent neuronal cell death caused by 6-OHDA. We also characterized the ability of the model to be manipulated genetically through transfection and overexpression of a green fluorescent protein (GFP) plasmid. We verify that the expression of GFP is maintained during the differentiation. Hence, our data showed the efficacy of the RA-induced differentiation protocol of the neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y, because these cells have morphological and neurochemical characteristics of dopaminergic neurons. Furthermore, the neuronal phenotype can be applyed not only to evaluate neurocytotoxicity/neuroprotection but also can be manipulated genetically.

Neuropatia é a complicação mais comum e mais debilitante da Diabetes Mellitus, a longo prazo presente em mais de 50% dos pacientes que possuem a doença. A hiperglicemia induz estresse oxidativo nos neurônios de diabéticos acarretando a ativação de múltiplas vias bioquímicas, as quais são potenciais alvos terapêuticos para a neuropatia diabética. Está claro que compostos carbonil reativos são mediadores glicotóxicos do estresse oxidativo através da formação de produtos finais de glicação avançada como resultado direto da hiperglicemia. Metilglioxal e glicolaldeído são compostos carbonil reativos inevitavelmente produzidos pelo metabolismo, os quais são encontrados em maior quantidade em situações de hiperglicemia. Recentemente, tem sido dada muita atenção para o envolvimento de espécies reativas na toxicidade do metilglioxal e do glicolaldeído, e tem-se demonstrado que essas glicotoxinas têm potencial para induzir estresse oxidativo, parar o crescimento celular e promover morte por apoptose ou necrose. O metilglioxal e o glicolaldeído interagem com grupamentos sulfidril de moléculas de glutationa e de enzimas, inibindo sua atividade; entretanto, os mecanismos moleculares relacionados aos efeitos tóxicos dessas glicotoxinas e as vias pelas quais elas levam a formação de espécies reativas não estão completamente elucidados. Neste estudo nós buscamos esclarecer a relação entre o metabolismo do metilglioxal e do glicolaldeído e a produção de espécies reativas, e investigamos as possíveis rotas de morte celular envolvidas. Utilizamos a linhagem celular de neuroblastoma humano SH-SY5Y diferenciada, pois este é um modelo neuronal bem caracterizado para estudos de compostos neurotóxicos. Nós avaliamos a produção de espécies reativas induzida por metilglioxal e glicolaldeído através da técnica da diclorofluoresceína, e avaliamos, também, seus efeitos sob o conteúdo de glutationa celular. Além disso, investigamos a ativação das caspase-3, -8 e -9 e a contribuição de diferentes sistemas peroxidases (glutationa-redutase e a tioredoxina-redutase), na defesa neuronal contra essas glicotoxinas. Como resultados encontramos que o tratamento com ambas glicotoxinas rapidamente provocou um aumento na produção de espécies reativas e diminuição do conteúdo de glutationa, com concomitante ativação das caspases-8 e -9 e, posteriormente, também houve ativação da caspase-3 pelo tratamento com metilglioxal. Vimos que a tioredoxina-redutase possui um papel mais importante na defesa celular contra a toxicidade do metilglioxal do que contra o glicolaldeído, enquanto que a glutationa-redutase tem papel semelhante na defesa celular contra ambas glicotoxinas. Nossos resultados demonstraram que o estresse oxidativo é um importante mecanismo da toxicidade do metilglioxal e do glicolaldeído nas células diferenciadas SHSY5Y e, que enzimas redutoras de grupamentos sulfidril contribuem de diferentes formas na defesa celular contra cada uma dessas glicotoxinas. / Neuropathy is the most common and debilitating complication of Diabetes Mellitus present in more than 50% of the patients with long-standing disease. Hyperglycemia induces oxidative stress in neurons from diabetic patients and results in activation of multiple biochemical pathways. These activated pathways are a major source of damage and are potential therapeutic targets in diabetic neuropathy. A large body of evidence has implicated reactive carbonyl compounds as glycotoxic mediators of oxidative stress by forming advanced glycation endproducts as a direct result of hyperglycemia. Methylglyoxal and glycolaldehyde are reactive carbonil compounds inevitably produced by the metabolism, but they are found in increased rates under hyperglycemia condition. Recently, the attention has been focused on the involvement of reactive species in methylglyoxal and glycolaldehyde toxicities, resulting in oxidative stress and leading to cell growth arrest, apoptotic or necrosis death. These glycotoxins interact with sulfhydryl-groups of glutathione molecules enzymes, inhibiting their activity; however, the molecular mechanism underlying methylglyoxal and glycolaldehyde cytotoxic effects and reactive species generation are not fully understood. In this study we have pursued to establish the role of methylglyoxal and glycolaldehyde metabolisms and reactive species production, and have looked for the possible death routes involved with the toxic effects of these glycotoxins. Here we used the differentiated human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells as neuronal experimental model to investigate the pathological effects of various neurotoxic compounds. We have evaluated the methylglyoxal and glycolaldehyde capacity to reactive species generation by dichlorofluorescein assay and their effects upon cellular glutathione content. Also, we have assessed the caspase-3, -8 and -9 activation and the contribution of different peroxidases systems (glutathione reductase and thioredoxin reductase) in the neuronal defense against methylglyoxal and glycolaldehyde cytotoxicities. We found that both glycotoxins promptly provoke reactive species generation and decrease the cell glutathione content, as well induce caspase-8 and -9 activation. Later caspase-3 activation was found in methylglyoxal treatment. We demonstrate that thioredoxin reductase has a most important role in cell defense against methylglyoxal toxicity than against glycolaldehyde, meanwhile there is no difference in the glutathione reductase role. Our results show that oxidative stress is an important mechanism in the methylglyoxal and glycolaldehyde toxicities and sulfhydryl reductases contributes differently in the cellular defense against these glycotoxins.

A investigação do potencial terapêutico de compostos naturais não tóxicos capazes de prevenir ou reduzir o impacto do estresse oxidativo em doenças inflamatórias diretamente relacionadas a dor tem exercido um papel fundamental no desenvolvimento de novas medicamentos. O ácido chiquímico (ACH) é um composto natural originalmente extraído da Illicium verum Hook. f., uma planta medicinal usada no tratamento de doenças inflamatórias. Apesar do ACH ter sido usado como um precursor químico na síntese do antiviral Tamiflu®, o seu potencial como um composto anti-inflamatório e antioxidante, já enraizado pelo uso popular, ainda permanece desconhecido. Baseado nisso, o objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a atividade antioxidante, anti-inflamatória e antinociceptiva do ACH em modelos in vitro e in vivo. Inicialmente as propriedades físico-químicas do ACH foram avaliadas e a atividade antioxidante comprovada, bem como seu potencial de proteger a morte celular induzida por peróxido de hidrogênio em células de neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y. O ACH atenuou a inflamação induzida pelo LPS em macrófagos RAW 264.7, foi capaz de inibir a produção de citocinas (TNF-α e IL-β) e de NO, assim como a ativação das MAPKs (ERK1/2 e P38) induzida pelo LPS, sugerindo que o ACH pode exercer uma atividade anti-inflamatória. In vivo, o ACH bloqueou a hiperalgesia mediada pela carragenina (CG), TNF-α, prostaglandinas (PEG2) e dopamina (DA) em camundongos. Esses resultados sugerem que o efeito antinociceptivo do ACH pode ser atribuído, em parte, a sua ação antioxidante e anti-inflamatória, dois mecanismos que sustentam a transdução do sinal doloroso. / The investigation of the therapeutic potential of natural non-toxic compounds capable of counteracting oxidative stress associated with inflammatory disease and painful conditions, has been of key interest in drug development. Shiquimic acid (SA) is a nature-derived compound originally extracted from Illicium verum Hook. f., a chinese medicinal herb used to treat inflammatory diseases. Even though SA has currently been used as a chemical precursor for synthesis of the antiviral Tamiflu, its potential as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compound – already rooted by its popular use - remains unknown until now. Based on that, the aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activity of SA in vitro and in vivo models. Initially the physic-chemical properties of SA were evaluated and proven antioxidant activity, as well as its potential to protect hydrogen peroxide-induced cell death in neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. SA attenuates LPS-induced inflammation in RAW 264.7 macrophages, SA was capable of inhibiting TNF-α and IL-1β cytokines production, NO production as well as LPS-induced activation of MAPKs (p38 and ERK1/2), thus suggesting that SA may exert anti-inflammatory activity. In vivo, SA blocked carrageenan, TNF-alpha-, prostaglandin (PE2)-, and dopamine-induced hyperalgesia in mice. These results suggest that anti-nociceptive effect of SA could be attributed, at least in part, to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions, two mechanisms underpinning painful signal transduction.

The dopaminergic neurodegeneration in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) is responsible for the marked motor impairment observed in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this are not completely understood. Since by the time of diagnosis, 50-70% of the dopaminergic neurons of the nigrostriatal pathway have already been degenerated, it is difficult to investigate the early-stage events of disease pathogenesis. Due to inaccessibility of the human brain to study initial pathogenic mechanisms of the disease, experimental models have been developed in an attempt to elucidate PD etiology and its progression. Nevertheless, PD models are a controversial issue in neuroscience research since it is challenging to mimic human neuronal complexity. Therefore, the lack of optimal models that recreate disease pathology is one of the causes of failure of clinical trials that have attempted to find new/better PD therapies. Taking this in consideration, the development of more suitable models is necessary to improve our knowledge regarding PD etiological mechanisms. Additionally, the understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of models already established would also be beneficial for PD research, which our group addressed by reviewing this subject. Considering this, we chose SH-SY5Y cells as a PD model for our studies. To investigate the initial stages of PD-induced neurodegeneration, our work focused in the role of cofilin-1, a protein involved in mitochondrial dysfunction caused by oxidant-induced-apoptosis, which are two pathogenic processes strongly related to PD. Hence, in the thesis, we aimed to validate the use of retinoic-acid-(RA)-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells as an in vitro model and use it to investigate the potential role of cofilin-1 in the initial molecular and cellular mechanisms of PD. Although SH-SY5Y cells are widely used in PD research, their major drawback is their lack of important neuronal features, such as low levels of proliferation and stellate morphology. On the other hand, SH-SY5Y cells can acquire a neuronal phenotype when treated with differentiation agents such as RA. Since several protocols have been described, the consequence of which may be the discrepancies observed among studies regarding neuronal and dopaminergic features. In Chapter I, we aimed to validate a RA-differentiation protocol for SH-SY5Y cells previously established by our research group, focusing upon characterization of neuronal features and its subsequent response to 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), a toxin widely used to induce dopaminergic degeneration. RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells have low proliferative rates, a pronounced neuronal morphology and high expression of genes related to synapse vesicle cycle, dopamine synthesis/degradation, and dopamine transporter (DAT). After exploring phenotypic differences between these two models, we verified that RA-differentiated cells were more sensitive to 6-OHDA toxicity than undifferentiated cells, which could be related to an increase of DAT immunocontent. Many lines of evidence have showed that DAT is responsible for 6-OHDA uptake in vivo. Once inside the neuron, 6-OHDA underwent auto-oxidation causing a significant increase in oxidative stress. However, toxin uptake is not an essential step in undifferentiated SH-SY5Y cells, as auto-oxidation occurs extracellularly. We showed here, for the first time, that RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells can mimic, at least in part, an important mechanism of the 6-OHDA-induced cell death found in previous in vivo studies. Hence, the cellular model established by our research group presents essential neuronal features, being a suitable model for PD research. In Chapter II, RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells were used as cellular model to investigate disease molecular mechanisms, focusing upon cofilin-1. Our previous data have shown that oxidation of non-phosphorylate (activated) cofilin-1 leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death induced by apoptosis in tumour cells. Here we found that cofilin-1 played a role in early stages of neuronal apoptosis induced by 6-OHDA in our cellular model since cofilin-1 mitochondrial translocation precedes organelle dysfunction. Overexpression of wild type CFL1 resulted in increased sensitivity of SH-SY5Y cells to 6-OHDA-induced neuronal cell death. Furthermore, overexpression of non-oxidizable CFL1 containing Cys-to-Ala mutations (positions 39, 80 and 139) increased neuronal resistance to this toxin, suggesting that oxidation is an important step in 6-OHDA toxicity. Follow-up experiments were performed in order to evaluate clinically whether cofilin-1 pathway proteins content is altered in PD post mortem human brain. Our findings showed a significant decrease in p-cofilin-1/cofilin-1 ratio in PD patients, which indicates an increase in the amount of activated cofilin-1 available for oxidation. Moreover, through principal component analysis, the immunodetection of cofilin-1 pathway proteins were able to discriminate controls and PD individuals during the early-stage of neuropathological changings. Hence, we demonstrated, for the first time, a possible role for cofilin-1 in PD pathogenesis and its potential use as biomarker. Taken together, our data showed that RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells present terminally-differentiated dopaminergic neuron features, that are essential to mimic dopaminergic neurons. By using this cellular model and post mortem brain tissue, we also demonstrated a possible role for cofilin-1 in early steps of the neurodegeneration process found in PD, which it could impact drug and biomarker discovery researches.

O crescente interesse científico relacionado ao estudo das propriedades dos grãos de arroz vermelho (Oryza glaberrima) e preto (Oryza sativa) está atrelado ao elevado teor nutricional desses grãos. Quando submetidos ao processo de beneficiamento, eles geram subprodutos, entre os quais a quirera e o farelo, ricos em amido e compostos fenólicos, respectivamente. Uma vez consideradas as diferenças varietais dos grãos e o potencial uso dos seus subprodutos, os objetivos deste trabalho foram, primeiramente, determinar a composição química e o perfil de compostos bioativos desses grãos e, sequencialmente, avaliar sua atividade antioxidante por meio da análise do efeito protetor de células SH- SY5Y. Posteriormente, esses grãos e seus subprodutos foram utilizados como material para o desenvolvimento de filmes biodegradáveis. A identificação e quantificação de compostos fenólicos foi avaliada em extratos da fração farelo de ambos os grãos, por ser essa a fração que contém sua maior concentração. Os resultados evidenciaram que o ácido ferúlico foi o principal composto fenólico encontrado em ambas as amostras. Enquanto no farelo de arroz preto a cianidina-3-glicosídeo foi a antocianina majoritária, no farelo de arroz vermelho foi identificada a presença de proantocianidinas Com relação à atividade antioxidante, o ensaio realizado em cultura de células SH-SY5Y, demonstrou que os extratos de ambos os farelos de arroz, nas duas concentrações testadas (10 and 50 μg/mL), apresentam um efeito protetor contra as espécies reativas geradas pelo H2O2 (ensaio DCFH-DA) e, esse resultado foi relacionado à presença de compostos bioativos, especialmente ácidos fenólicos e antocianinas. Devido às propriedades físico-químicas e antioxidantes, amido e farinha de arroz vermelho foram utilizados para o desenvolvimento de filmes biodegradáveis. Foram desenvolvidas formulações contendo diferentes proporções de farinha e amido (10:0, 9:1, 7:3, 5:5 e 0:10, p/p). A incorporação de amido nos filmes de farinha promoveu melhora das propriedades mecânicas e estruturais e, redução da permeabilidade ao vapor de água. Baseado na excelente atividade de sequestro do radical DPPH. e no menor custo de produção, a formulação 9:1 foi escolhida para ser aplicada na forma de sachê para análise da estabilidade de óleo de girassol armazenado sob condições de oxidação acelerada. Os resultados demonstraram que os filmes foram eficazes como embalagem protetora impedindo a formação de produtos de degradação primários (peróxidos e dienos conjugados) e secundários (trienos conjugados) durante o armazenamento. A partir dos resultados obtidos neste trabalho, fica evidenciada a possibilidade de utilização dos grãos de arroz vermelho e preto e seus subprodutos como matérias-primas promissoras para o desenvolvimento de embalagens biodegradáveis fonte de compostos antioxidantes. / The increase scientific interest related to the study of the properties of red (Oryza glaberrima) and black rice (Oryza sativa) grains is related to the high nutritional content of these grains. When submitted to the polishing process, they generate by-products, among them broken grains and bran, rich in starch and phenolic compounds, respectively. Once considered varietal differences of the grains, and the potential use of their by-products, the goals of this work were, firstly, to determine the chemical composition and the bioactive compounds profile of these grains and, sequentially evaluate their antioxidant activity by analyzing the protective effect of SH-SY5Y cells. Subsequently, these grains and their by-products were used as material for the development of biodegradable films. The identification and quantification of phenolic compounds was evaluated in extracts of the bran fraction of both grains, since this is the fraction that contains the highest concentration of them. The results showed that ferulic acid was the main phenolic compound found in both samples. While in the black rice bran cyanidin-3-glycoside was the major anthocyanin, in the red rice bran the presence of proanthocyanidins was identified. In relation to the antioxidant activity, the SHSY5Y cell culture assay showed that the extracts from both rice bran, at both concentrations tested (10 and 50 μg/ mL), had a protective effect against the reactive species generated by H2O2 (DCFH-DA assay) and this result was related to the presence of bioactive compounds, especially phenolic acids and anthocyanins. Due to the physicochemical and antioxidant properties, starch and red rice flour were used for the development of biodegradable films Formulations containing different ratios of flour and starch (10:0, 9:1, 7:3, 5:5 and 0:10, w/w) were developed. The incorporation of starch in the flour films promoted improved mechanical and structural properties, and reduced permeability to water vapor. Based on excellent scavenging activity of DPPH radical and lowest production cost, the 9: 1 formulation was chosen to be applied in the form of sachets to analyze the stability of sunflower oil stored under accelerated oxidation conditions. The results demonstrated that the films were effective as protective packaging preventing the formation of primary degradation products (peroxides and conjugated dienes) and secondary (conjugated trienes) during the storage. Based on the results obtained in this work, it was confirmed the possibility of using red and black rice grains and their by-products as promising raw materials for the development of biodegradable packaging source of antioxidant compounds.

The dopaminergic neurodegeneration in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) is responsible for the marked motor impairment observed in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this are not completely understood. Since by the time of diagnosis, 50-70% of the dopaminergic neurons of the nigrostriatal pathway have already been degenerated, it is difficult to investigate the early-stage events of disease pathogenesis. Due to inaccessibility of the human brain to study initial pathogenic mechanisms of the disease, experimental models have been developed in an attempt to elucidate PD etiology and its progression. Nevertheless, PD models are a controversial issue in neuroscience research since it is challenging to mimic human neuronal complexity. Therefore, the lack of optimal models that recreate disease pathology is one of the causes of failure of clinical trials that have attempted to find new/better PD therapies. Taking this in consideration, the development of more suitable models is necessary to improve our knowledge regarding PD etiological mechanisms. Additionally, the understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of models already established would also be beneficial for PD research, which our group addressed by reviewing this subject. Considering this, we chose SH-SY5Y cells as a PD model for our studies. To investigate the initial stages of PD-induced neurodegeneration, our work focused in the role of cofilin-1, a protein involved in mitochondrial dysfunction caused by oxidant-induced-apoptosis, which are two pathogenic processes strongly related to PD. Hence, in the thesis, we aimed to validate the use of retinoic-acid-(RA)-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells as an in vitro model and use it to investigate the potential role of cofilin-1 in the initial molecular and cellular mechanisms of PD. Although SH-SY5Y cells are widely used in PD research, their major drawback is their lack of important neuronal features, such as low levels of proliferation and stellate morphology. On the other hand, SH-SY5Y cells can acquire a neuronal phenotype when treated with differentiation agents such as RA. Since several protocols have been described, the consequence of which may be the discrepancies observed among studies regarding neuronal and dopaminergic features. In Chapter I, we aimed to validate a RA-differentiation protocol for SH-SY5Y cells previously established by our research group, focusing upon characterization of neuronal features and its subsequent response to 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), a toxin widely used to induce dopaminergic degeneration. RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells have low proliferative rates, a pronounced neuronal morphology and high expression of genes related to synapse vesicle cycle, dopamine synthesis/degradation, and dopamine transporter (DAT). After exploring phenotypic differences between these two models, we verified that RA-differentiated cells were more sensitive to 6-OHDA toxicity than undifferentiated cells, which could be related to an increase of DAT immunocontent. Many lines of evidence have showed that DAT is responsible for 6-OHDA uptake in vivo. Once inside the neuron, 6-OHDA underwent auto-oxidation causing a significant increase in oxidative stress. However, toxin uptake is not an essential step in undifferentiated SH-SY5Y cells, as auto-oxidation occurs extracellularly. We showed here, for the first time, that RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells can mimic, at least in part, an important mechanism of the 6-OHDA-induced cell death found in previous in vivo studies. Hence, the cellular model established by our research group presents essential neuronal features, being a suitable model for PD research. In Chapter II, RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells were used as cellular model to investigate disease molecular mechanisms, focusing upon cofilin-1. Our previous data have shown that oxidation of non-phosphorylate (activated) cofilin-1 leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death induced by apoptosis in tumour cells. Here we found that cofilin-1 played a role in early stages of neuronal apoptosis induced by 6-OHDA in our cellular model since cofilin-1 mitochondrial translocation precedes organelle dysfunction. Overexpression of wild type CFL1 resulted in increased sensitivity of SH-SY5Y cells to 6-OHDA-induced neuronal cell death. Furthermore, overexpression of non-oxidizable CFL1 containing Cys-to-Ala mutations (positions 39, 80 and 139) increased neuronal resistance to this toxin, suggesting that oxidation is an important step in 6-OHDA toxicity. Follow-up experiments were performed in order to evaluate clinically whether cofilin-1 pathway proteins content is altered in PD post mortem human brain. Our findings showed a significant decrease in p-cofilin-1/cofilin-1 ratio in PD patients, which indicates an increase in the amount of activated cofilin-1 available for oxidation. Moreover, through principal component analysis, the immunodetection of cofilin-1 pathway proteins were able to discriminate controls and PD individuals during the early-stage of neuropathological changings. Hence, we demonstrated, for the first time, a possible role for cofilin-1 in PD pathogenesis and its potential use as biomarker. Taken together, our data showed that RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells present terminally-differentiated dopaminergic neuron features, that are essential to mimic dopaminergic neurons. By using this cellular model and post mortem brain tissue, we also demonstrated a possible role for cofilin-1 in early steps of the neurodegeneration process found in PD, which it could impact drug and biomarker discovery researches.