Effects of ginsenoside Rg2 on the ultraviolet B-induced DNA damage responses in HaCaT cells.

Our previous study demonstrated the increase in the repair of UVB damage by mRg2, a mixture of ginsenosides containing 60% Rg2 in NIH3T3 cells. In the present study, the effects of purified Rg2 on the repair and apoptosis in ultraviolet B (UVB)-exposed HaCaT cells were investigated on gene expression levels. When cells were exposed to UVB and post-incubated in normal medium for 24 h, the cell viability decreased to about 50% of that in nontreated control. When Rg2 was post-incubated, however, the UVB-induced cytotoxicity was significantly prevented in an Rg2 concentration- and time-dependent manner. The apoptotic nuclear fragmentation resulting from UVB exposure was also significantly protected by the Rg2 post-incubation. Microarray analysis showed that the genes stimulated by the Rg2-alone treatment include those involved in p53 signaling pathway such as GADD45alpha, GADD45beta, and cell communication genes. RT-PCR analysis showed that the Rg2-alone treatment slightly upregulated the p53 and GADD45 transcript and protein levels by about 1.5-fold as compared with the nontreated control. The mRNA levels of p53 and GADD45 in cells exposed to UVB and post-incubated with Rg2 for 24 h decreased in an Rg2 concentration-dependent manner as compared with that post-incubated in normal medium. However, the mRNA level of the UVB-exposed cells post-incubated with 5 microM retinol was essentially the same as that post-incubated in normal medium. Time course experiment showed that the mRNA levels of p53 and GADD45 in UVB-exposed cells were upregulated by post-incubation with 50 microM Rg2 until 6 and 9 h, respectively, and then gradually decreased until 24 h. By Western blot analysis, it was also revealed that the Rg2 post-incubation decreases the expression of p53, phospho-p53, GADD45, and ATM in UVB-exposed cells. Time course analysis also indicated that these decreased expressions were due to the earlier upregulation of p53 and GADD45 proteins. When UVB-exposed cells were post-incubated with Rg2 for 24 h after UVB exposure, the level of remaining cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers decreased in both Rg2 concentration- and time-dependent manner. All these results suggest that Rg2 protects cells against UVB-induced genotoxicity by increasing DNA repair, in possible association with modulation of protein levels involved in p53 signaling pathway.

Citation

Se Eun Ha, Dae Hyun Shin, Hyung Do Kim, Sun Mi Shim, Hack Soo Kim, Bo Hyeon Kim, Jung Sup Lee, Jong Kun Park. Effects of ginsenoside Rg2 on the ultraviolet B-induced DNA damage responses in HaCaT cells. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology. 2010 Jul;382(1):89-101

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PMID: 20508917

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