Blueberry anthocyanins ameliorate radiation-induced lung injury through the protein kinase RNA-activated pathway

Publication date: Available online 6 November 2015 Source:Chemico-Biological Interactions Author(s): Yunen Liu, Dehong Tan, Changci Tong, Yubiao Zhang, Ying Xu, Xinwei Liu, Yan Gao, Mingxiao Hou The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of blueberry anthocyanins (BA) on radiation-induced lung injury and investigate themechanism of action. Seven days after BA(20 and 80 mg/kg/d)administration, 6 weeks old male Sprague–Dawley ratsrats were irradiated by LEKTA precise linear accelerator at a single dose of 20 Gy only once. and the rats were continuously treated with BA for 4 weeks. Moreover, human pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells (HPAEpiC) were transfected with either control-siRNA or siRNA targeting protein kinase R (PKR). Cells were then irradiated and treated with 75 μg/mL BA for 72 hours. The results showed that BA significantly ameliorated radiation-induced lung inflammation, lung collagen deposition, apoptosis and PKR expression and activation. Invitro, BA significantly protected cells from radiation-induced celldeath through modulating expression of Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-3. Suppression of PKR by siRNA resulted in ablation of BA protection on radiation-induced cell death and modulation of anti-apoptotic and pro-apoptotic proteins, as well as Caspase-3 expression. These findings suggest that BA is effective in ameliorating radiation-induced lung injury, likely through the PKR signaling pathway.
Source: Chemico Biological Interactions - Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research