Day 1 :
Keynote Forum
Giulio Maria Pasinetti
Professor
Keynote: Research of natural compounds: The crossroads between promotion of health and prevention of age-related neurodegeneration with polyphenols to avoid the catastrophic cliff of neuronal failure
Time : 09:30Am
Biography:
Giulio Maria Pasinetti is The Saunders Family Chair and Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry, Neuroscience, Geriatrics and Adult Development at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is also the Program Director of the NIH funded P50 Center on Molecular Integrative Neuroresilience focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms and pathophysiology that may be at the basis of stress-induced mood disorders, including anxiety, depression, and other neuropsychiatric disorders and their influence on cognitive dysfunction. He is the recipient of several academic awards, including the prestigious Zenith and Temple awards and the Foundation Queen Sofia of Spain Research Center Award on Alzheimer’s disease. Most recently, he received The Faculty Council Award for academic excellence at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and The Charles Dana Alliance for Brain Research Award from the Dana Foundation, recognizing productivity and worldwide leadership in his field of expertise. He is the recipient of more than 30 NIH federal, industry and non-profit organization research grants and has published over 300 groundbreaking manuscripts.
Abstract:
Polyphenols are a large and diverse group of naturally occurring compounds widely distributed in many plant-derived foods and beverages. Polyphenols are receiving increasing attention for their potential role in the promotion of resilience in response to stress-induced psychological impairment and cognitive deterioration. In particular, preclinical evidence demonstrated the efficacy of certain polyphenols, acting either individually or in combination, to modulate multiple diverse mechanisms relevant to depression and anxiety, which also pose a risk to neurodegeneration such as Alzheimer’s disease, implicating the potential for novel development of polyphenols for multi-target engagement. In spite of the increasing efforts committed to clinical testing of polyphenols, these efforts are hindered by limited knowledge of polyphenol bioavailability, specific forms of brain-bioavailable bioactive polyphenols (including polyphenol metabolites) and their underlying mechanisms of actions. The overall goal of this presentation is to provide an overview on the “state of the art” on the development of polyphenols and eventually their translation into the clinical setting. In particular, I will discuss the mechanistic implications of brain-bioavailable bioactive polyphenol metabolites in modulating key physiological processes that are relevant in preventative and therapeutic approaches to stress-induced psychological impairment and cognitive deterioration. Moreover, emerging evidence suggests that there is a pivotal role of the gastrointestinal microbiota in mechanisms associated with bioavailability of bioactive polyphenol metabolites. Based on this consideration, I will discuss novel evidence about the role of microbiota in modulating the bioavailability of bioactive phenolic acids from polyphenols. Collectively, in my presentation, I will critically discuss the current complex mosaic of evidence, which puts the investigation of brain-bioavailable bioactive polyphenols at the cross-roads between promotion of health and prevention of age-related psychological resilience and prevention of age related degenerative disorders.
Keynote Forum
Kyeong Mee Park
Medical Doctor
Keynote: Anti-mTOR activity of aqueous extract from roots of Acanthopanax senticosus
Time : 10:15
Biography:
Kyeong Mee Park has completed her PhD from Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology and Medical Doctor from Daejon University School of Oriental Medicine. She has investigated various pharmacological properties of herbs including ginseng and Chinese medicinal herbs for 13 years and published 24 papers in reputed journals. Also, she is interested in the acupuncture point injection with herbal medicine as a Medical Doctor and recently published 3 books and 6 papers. She is the Director of Inno Oriental Clinic as well as Fuzopuncture Institute.
Abstract:
The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway couples energy and nutrient abundance to the expression of cell growth and division. mTOR is crucially involved in the onset and progression of diabetes, cancer and ageing. The screening of >2,800 natural plant products used for traditional medicine has selected an aqueous extract from roots of Acanthopanax senticosus (A. senticosus) as a natural product that modulates mTORC1 pathway. The plant extract inhibits mTORC1 activity, but presents low cytotoxicity in HeLa human cancer cells. Treatment of the root extract of A. senticosus resulted in the inhibition of mTORC1 activity as measured by the phosphorylation status of p70 S6 kinase (S6K) in HeLa cells and the induction of autophagy as assessed by the conversion of cytoplasmic LCI into lipidated LCII in HeLa GFP-LC3 cells stably expressing GFP-LC3. The treatment of HeLa cells with this plant extract also induces cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase. A strong therapeutic potential of A. senticosus extract that inactivates mTORC1 pathway has been suggested by showing the reduced level of phosphorylated S6K in tissues of 15-week-old diabetic obese db/db mice intraperitoneally injected with A. senticosus extract (100 µg/g body weight/day) for a week. Taken together, these results suggest that the aqueous extract of A. senticosus is a promising candidate for prevention of cancer, diabetes, and ageing by inhibiting mTOR signaling.