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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #288974
Title: Blueberries and strawberries activate neuronal housekeeping in critical brain regions of stress-induced young rats

Author
item Poulose, Shibu
item BIELINSKI, DONNA - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item CARRIHILL-KNOLL, KIRSTY - University Of Maryland
item RABIN, BERNARD - University Of Maryland
item Shukitt-Hale, Barbara

Submitted to: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/13/2013
Publication Date: 4/20/2013
Citation: Poulose, S.M., Bielinski, D.F., Carrihill-Knoll, K., Rabin, B.M., Shukitt Hale, B. 2013. Blueberries and strawberries activate neuronal housekeeping in critical brain regions of stress-induced young rats. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Conference. Abstract 27:637.39.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Dysfunctional autophagy, where accumulation of damaged or complex cellular components in neurons in response to sublethal cell stress has been implicated in an array of brain disorders. This phenomenon plays a pivotal role in aging, because of the increased vulnerability of the aging brain to increased oxidative stress and inflammation. Blueberries and strawberries are rich in an array of neuroactive compounds, and diets supplemented with these berries have shown to improve behavior and cognitive functions in young rats which were subjected to oxidative and inflammatory stress by exposure to irradiation with high energy and charge (HZE) particles, a model for accelerated aging. The current study explored the neurochemical changes in the brain, particularly autophagy, a neuronal housekeeping mechanism. Irradiation disrupted protein homeostasis as evidenced by increased accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins in hippocampus and striatum. Feeding animals with either berry diet (2% w/w), prior to irradiation as well as 30 days post irradiation, protected these brain regions against inflammation and oxidative stress, and enhanced the clearance of ubiquitinated proteins measured in terms of the levels of p62, beclin1, ATG7, and MAP1B-LC3, and phosphorylation of mTOR, indicating activation of autophagy. This study extends molecular evidence for the health-promoting properties of berries.