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[Behavioral pharmacology of berberine-type alkaloids. (2) Central depressant effects of tetrahydroberberine (THB) and related compounds].

The behavioral effects of tetrahydroberberine (THB), tetrahydrocoptisine (THC), tetrahydropalmatine (THP) and tetrahydrojateorrhizine (THJ) were compared with those of chlorpromazine (CPZ) and benzodiazepines in mice and rats. Effects of THB were also determined by electroencephalography (EEG) in rabbits. THB was found to pharmacologically exert various actions similar to those of CPZ which is a major tranquilizer, however, the actions of THB were weaker than those of CPZ. Although THB alone did not induce catalepsy, it enhanced the cataleptogenic action of CPZ. At a dose over the effective levels, THB did not lower normal body temperature or induce muscle relaxation and loss of righting reflex. EEG activities in the frontal cortex areas were markedly affected by THB, e.g., fast waves in spontaneous EEG were converted to slow waves. THB and CPZ in a similar manner elicited a sustaining increase in hippocampal afterdischarge, but the action of THB was weaker than that of CPZ. The acute toxicity of THB was lower than that of CPZ and benzodiazepines and the depressant activity of THB almost equalled that of THC and THP, whereas the activity of 1-THB was 1.5 times as great as that of THB. These data indicate that THB, THC and THP may be a new type of tranquilizer.

Animals

DNM1L depletion leads to accelerated heteroplasmy shifting of m.10191C allele through ATG7-dependent pathways.

Nucleotide composition bias in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) makes the heavy strand prone to form a DNA secondary structure called a guanine quadruplex (G4). This secondary structure has been shown to inhibit polymerase processivity in vitro. We previously identified pathogenic mtDNA variants that lead to increased G4-forming propensity, including a T to C mutation at m.10191 (m.10191 T > C) that causes Leigh syndrome. Cells treated with G4 binding agent (G4BA) berberine show a reduction in m.10191C pathogenic heteroplasmy levels. To help better understand the underlying mechanism behind berberine-induced heteroplasmy shift, we examined the relationship between mitochondrial fission and berberine-mediated shift. Here we show that knockdown of the fission factor DNM1L leads to an accelerated heteroplasmy shift towards the healthy mtDNA allele, lowering m.10191C by 10% in 3 weeks, compared to the 5 weeks required for berberine alone. The specific mechanism involves ATG7, as knockdown of ATG7 is able to partially delay this accelerated heteroplasmy shift. Taken together, we show that DNM1L knockdown is able to accelerate berberine-induced m.10191C heteroplasmy shifting through an autophagy-related mechanism.

Humans