Chitosan oligosaccharides suppress production of nitric oxide in lipopolysaccharide-induced N9 murine microglial cells in vitro

• DOI: 10.1007/s10719-012-9392-3
• Publication Date: 2012-07-23T18:18:40Z
• Authors: Peng Wei; Pan Ma; Qing-Song Xu; Qun-Hua Bai; Jian-Guo Gu; Hao Xi; Yu-Guang Du; Chao Yu
• Keywords: Lipopolysaccharides; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; 0301 basic medicine; Chitosan; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; Cell Survival; NF-kappa B; Gene Expression; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; Oligosaccharides; Nitric Oxide; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; Transcription Factor AP-1; Mice; 03 medical and health sciences; Animals; Microglia; Phosphorylation; Neuroglia; Cells, Cultured; Signal Transduction

Chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) have been reported to exert many biological activities, such as antioxidant, antitumor and anti-inflammatory effects. In the present study, we examined the effect of COS on nitric oxide (NO) production in LPS induced N9 microglial cells. Pretreatment with COS (50~200 μg/ml) could markedly inhibit NO production by suppressing inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in activated microglial cells. Signal transduction studies showed that COS remarkably inhibited LPS-induced phosphorylation of p38 MAPK and ERK1/2. COS pretreatment could also inhibit the activation of both nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and activator protein-1 (AP-1). In conclusion, our results suggest that COS could suppress the production of NO in LPS-induced N9 microglial cells, mediated by p38 MAPK and ERK1/2 pathways.