Antioxidant effects of a moringa extract in Caenorhabditis elegans
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Pierre Camayoc
College:
The Dorothy and George Hennings College of Science, Mathematics, and Technology
Major:
Biotechnology/Molecular Biology
Faculty Research Advisor(s):
Renalison Farias Pereira
Abstract:
Moringa oleifera has been used for a variety of health benefits as it is a good source of antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and anti-aging compounds. M. oleifera seed extract (MSE) contains notable antioxidants, such as isothiocyanates which are known for mitigating oxidative stress. Isothiocyanates are antioxidants that activate the Nrf2 pathway, involved in the oxidative stress resistance in organisms. Using Caenorhabditis elegans (roundworm) as our model organism, we aimed to investigate the antioxidant-related molecular pathways induced by MSE. The C. elegans gene skn-1 encodes for a transcription factor that is homologous to the human Nrf2. The skn-1/Nrf2 pathway induces gene expression of antioxidant proteins that have an important role in aging and oxidative stress defense. We treated C. elegans with MSE in liquid media for 2 days before collecting and extracting total RNA. Using RT-qPCR, we tested for six skn-1 downstream genes (gst-4, atf-4, gcs-1, gsr-1, pbs-5, and pcp-2) for amplification. MSE at 0.5 mg/mL upregulated the expression of gst-4, atf-4, gcs-1, gsr-1, and pbs-5 in comparison to the control, while pcp-2 expression was not changed due to MSE. Our findings show that MSE activates the skn-1/Nrf2 pathway, suggesting the potential benefits M. oleifera seeds for aging and oxidative stress defense due to their isothiocyanates.