Acteoside exerts neuroprotective effects by preventing α-synuclein aggregation and oxidative stress in models of Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

α-Synuclein is a small presynaptic protein whose aggregation is one of the hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease (PD). In our quest to identify novel preventive or therapeutic treatments for PD, we collected 60 Italian plant species, representative of part of the Mediterranean flora, which were screened by a phylogenetic analysis in conjunction with a high-throughput screening in a yeast model of PD expressing human α-synuclein. The integration of these approaches led to the identification of four plants, Allium lusitanicum, Salvia pratensis, Verbascum thapsus and Glaucium flavum, whose extracts, characterized by a metabolomic analysis, exhibit robust inhibitory activity against the amyloid aggregation of α-synuclein in vitro, as well as in neuroblastoma cells overexpressing the protein.