Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 10, 2025

Probing Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Function in Mouse Brain Slices via Laser Flash Photolysis of Photoactivatable Nicotine
Published on: January 25, 2019
Neuroactivity of naturally occurring proaporphine alkaloid, pronuciferine
Omer Bayazeid1, Emirhan Nemutlu2, Cemil C Eylem2
1Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Hacettepe University, Sihhiye, Ankara, Turkey.
Abstract:
Pronuciferine is a naturally occurring proaporphine alkaloid that belongs to isoquinoline alkaloids. The aim of this study is to investigate the neuroactivity of pronuciferine. We assessed the neuroprotective effect of pronuciferine against hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 )-induced apoptosis in human neuronal SH-SY5Y cells. In addition, we measured the effect of pronuciferine on cell metabolites and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) level in SH-SY5Y cells. In vitro result shows that pronuciferine at 10 µM significantly (P < .001) increased the proliferation of SH-SY5Y by 45%, and upon H2 O2 addition, pronuciferine significantly (P < .001) suppressed neuronal death caused by H2 O2 . Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolomics study revealed that pronuciferine has a high impact on glycine-serine-threonine pathway by changing the intracellular level of serine dimethylglycine, sarcosine, and threonine. Also, pronuciferine increased the intercellular level of aspartic acid, glutamine, and tryptophan. Additionally, pronuciferine significantly (P < .05) increased the intracellular BDNF protein expression at 10 µM. Therefore, pronuciferine is a neuroactive molecule that might act as a neuroprotective agent to prevent apoptosis in neurodegenerative diseases.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Drugs Affecting Neurotransmitter Synthesis
Direct-Acting Cholinergic Agonists: Chemistry and Structure-Activity Relationship
The direct-acting...
Drugs Acting on Autonomic Ganglia: Stimulants
Ganglionic stimulants activate NM nicotinic receptors in autonomic ganglia, falling into two categories: nicotine mimetics [e.g., lobeline, dimethylpiperazine, tetramethylammonium] and muscarinic receptor agonists [e.g., muscarine, methacholine]. The first category's action is rapid and blocked by nicotinic receptor antagonists, while the second category's action is delayed and blocked by atropine-like agents. Nicotine, an alkaloid, affects the heart rate by stimulating...
Opioid Receptors: Overview
Neurochemical Transmission: Sites of Drug Action
Drugs Affecting Neurotransmitter Release or Uptake

