Ginsenoside Rb1 induces autophagic lipid degradation <i>via</i> miR-128 targeting TFEB
Zhuoqun Meng, Jianing Lu, Jianing Lu, Guangcai Ge, Guang Wang, Ran Zhang, Yuhan Li, Shuang Guan, Jing Lu, Jing Lu
Abstract
In recent years, the effect of lipid metabolism on health has attracted more and more attention. Ginseng is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine in China and is widely used as food in Asia. Ginsenoside Rb1 (Gs-Rb1) is the most abundant ingredient in ginsenoside, which has a variety of biological activities. In this study, we found that Gs-Rb1 can reduce lipid accumulation in mice and HepG2 cells induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) and palmitic acid (PA). At the same time, we also found that Gs-Rb1 could stimulate the autophagic flux of HFD-fed mice and PA-treated HepG2 cells, and it is further verified by adding the autophagy activator rapamycin (Rapa) and autophagy inhibitor chloroquine (CQ). Furthermore, we found that Gs-Rb1 promoted the nucleus translocation of the transcription factor EB (TFEB) and the target role of miR-128, thus stimulating autophagic flux. Therefore, our results showed that Gs-Rb1 enhanced the transcription of TFEB and its downstream lysosome-related genes by inhibiting miR-128, improved the degradation ability of lysosomes to autophagosomes, and then promoted autophagic lipid degradation.