Yokukansan, a Traditional Japanese Medicine, Enhances the Glutamate Transporter GLT-1 Function in Cultured Rat Cortical Astrocytes

Figure 2

Effect of TA treatments and Yokukansan (YKS) on glutamate transporter GLT-1 protein expression in cultured rat cortical astrocytes. Astrocytes were exposed for 72 h in culture medium supplemented with or without 50 ng/mL TNF-α and 150 μM dibutyryl-cAMP (TA) and then treated with or without 100 or 500 μg/mL YKS. The relative expression of GLT-1 protein was examined using Western blotting. Cell lysates contained cytoplasm and plasma membrane but not nuclei. (a, f) Representative images of Western blots. Immunoreactive GLT-1 was detected as monomer (70 kD), dimer (140 kD), and trimer (210 kD) bands. Immunoreactive GAPDH was detected as single bands (37 kD). (b–e, g–j) Results of densitometric analysis in monomers (b, g), dimers (c, h), trimers (d, i), and total (e, j). Each column is the mean ± SEM ( = 3-4). Asterisks and daggers indicate a significant difference: versus control (0 μg/mL YKS), , and versus TA (0 μg/mL YKS).