Osmotic homeostasis is crucial for cellular function. In this study atractylenolide Ⅲ (AⅢ), a substance extracted from the root of Atractylodes japonica, was tested whether it possesses protective properties against hypertonic stress using Caenora...
Osmotic homeostasis is crucial for cellular function. In this study atractylenolide Ⅲ (AⅢ), a substance extracted from the root of Atractylodes japonica, was tested whether it possesses protective properties against hypertonic stress using Caenorabditis elegans model system. C. elegans provide excellent experimental environment for hypertonic-related studies because this simple organism shows apparent morphologic transition as well as functional transition in varying osmotic pressure. Results demonstrated that AⅢ-treated wild-type nematode has shown higher survival under hypertonic environment. Further studies using null mutants have revealed that OSR-1 and DAF-16 were involved in the AⅢ-mediated protection. Moreover, effects of AⅢ on the translocation of target protein was investigated using transgenic mutants such as TJ356 and DA2123. Interestingly, AⅢ exposure significantly increased the nuclear translocation of DAF-16 and subcellular localization of LGG-1, respectively under hypertonic stress condition. These results showed that AⅢ has protective effects against hypertonic stress condition via FOXO activation and autophagy upregulation.