Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 15, 2026
Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model System for Discovering Bioactive Compounds Against Polyglutamine-Mediated Neurotoxicity
Published on: September 21, 2021
Synthesis, characterization, antioxidant activity and neuroprotective effects of selenium polysaccharide from Radix
Dongfeng Wei1, Tong Chen2, Mingfei Yan3
1School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, PR China; Institute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, PR China.
Abstract:
Beta-amyloid (Aβ) peptide, the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, invokes oxidative damage to neurons and eventually leads to neuronal death. Selenylation modification of polysaccharide obtained from Radix hedysari (RHP) was studied to access antioxidant activities and neuroprotective effects against oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by Aβ25-35 in vitro. A series of the selenylation derivatives of RHP (Se-RHP) was synthesized using nitric acid-sodium selenite (HNO3-Na2SeO3) method. The organic selenium content of Se-RHP increased from 1.04 to 3.29 mg/g. However, compared with the weight-average molecular mass (Mw) of RHP, Mw of Se-RHP showed a significant decrease, and varied from 27.7 kDa to 62.7 kDa. FT-IR spectra and (13)C NMR spectra indicated the selenite groups had been introduced mainly at the C-6 positions of RHP. Compared with RHP, Se-RHP showed greater antioxidant activities in vitro. Furthermore, both RHP and Se-RHP3 had neuroprotective effects against Aβ25-35-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells, which might be a potential therapeutic agent for preventing or treating neurodegenerative diseases.
