Galangin Regulates Oxidative Stress Levels in Porcine Embryos Through Interaction with the Neh1 Domain of Nrf2

Oxidative stress poses a challenge to in vitro embryo culture. As a flavonoid, galangin (GAL) has been shown to have antioxidant effects, but the effect and antioxidant capacity of GAL in the in vitro development of porcine parthenogenetic embryos are still unknown. In this study, we demonstrated th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhi-Chao Chi, Shu-Ming Shi, Li-Ying Liu, Lin-Yi Qu, Jing-Hang Li, Guan-Lin Jia, Yu-Yan He, Lin-Xuan Li, Yong-Xun Jin, Ming-Jun Zhang, Xian-Feng Yu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Antioxidants
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/14/7/822
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849407162579681280
author Zhi-Chao Chi
Shu-Ming Shi
Li-Ying Liu
Lin-Yi Qu
Jing-Hang Li
Guan-Lin Jia
Yu-Yan He
Lin-Xuan Li
Yong-Xun Jin
Ming-Jun Zhang
Xian-Feng Yu
author_facet Zhi-Chao Chi
Shu-Ming Shi
Li-Ying Liu
Lin-Yi Qu
Jing-Hang Li
Guan-Lin Jia
Yu-Yan He
Lin-Xuan Li
Yong-Xun Jin
Ming-Jun Zhang
Xian-Feng Yu
author_sort Zhi-Chao Chi
collection DOAJ
description Oxidative stress poses a challenge to in vitro embryo culture. As a flavonoid, galangin (GAL) has been shown to have antioxidant effects, but the effect and antioxidant capacity of GAL in the in vitro development of porcine parthenogenetic embryos are still unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that 1 µM GAL significantly increased the blastocyst rate, decreased the accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), increased the glutathione (GSH) level, and enhanced mitochondrial function in early porcine embryos. Nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 (<i>Nrf2</i>) was identified as the target gene of GAL via network pharmacology, and the transcript levels of related antioxidant enzymes (HO-1, NQO1, SOD2, and CAT) were found to be increased. Since Nrf2 has seven domains, we constructed Nrf2 mutants lacking different domains in vitro. We found that GAL specifically binds to the Neh1 domain of Nrf2. Subsequent embryonic experiments demonstrated that the antioxidant effect of GAL was abolished after Nrf2 deletion. These results suggest that GAL can directly bind to Nrf2 to regulate the level of oxidative stress and improve mitochondrial function in embryos.
format Article
id doaj-art-3a45029cfe17455b98de3e2fa6c37784
institution Kabale University
issn 2076-3921
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Antioxidants
spelling doaj-art-3a45029cfe17455b98de3e2fa6c377842025-08-20T03:36:10ZengMDPI AGAntioxidants2076-39212025-07-0114782210.3390/antiox14070822Galangin Regulates Oxidative Stress Levels in Porcine Embryos Through Interaction with the Neh1 Domain of Nrf2Zhi-Chao Chi0Shu-Ming Shi1Li-Ying Liu2Lin-Yi Qu3Jing-Hang Li4Guan-Lin Jia5Yu-Yan He6Lin-Xuan Li7Yong-Xun Jin8Ming-Jun Zhang9Xian-Feng Yu10College of Animal Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, ChinaCollege of Animal Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, ChinaCollege of Animal Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, ChinaCollege of Animal Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, ChinaCollege of Animal Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, ChinaCollege of Animal Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, ChinaCollege of Animal Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, ChinaCollege of Animal Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, ChinaCollege of Animal Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, ChinaCollege of Animal Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, ChinaCollege of Animal Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, ChinaOxidative stress poses a challenge to in vitro embryo culture. As a flavonoid, galangin (GAL) has been shown to have antioxidant effects, but the effect and antioxidant capacity of GAL in the in vitro development of porcine parthenogenetic embryos are still unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that 1 µM GAL significantly increased the blastocyst rate, decreased the accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), increased the glutathione (GSH) level, and enhanced mitochondrial function in early porcine embryos. Nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 (<i>Nrf2</i>) was identified as the target gene of GAL via network pharmacology, and the transcript levels of related antioxidant enzymes (HO-1, NQO1, SOD2, and CAT) were found to be increased. Since Nrf2 has seven domains, we constructed Nrf2 mutants lacking different domains in vitro. We found that GAL specifically binds to the Neh1 domain of Nrf2. Subsequent embryonic experiments demonstrated that the antioxidant effect of GAL was abolished after Nrf2 deletion. These results suggest that GAL can directly bind to Nrf2 to regulate the level of oxidative stress and improve mitochondrial function in embryos.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/14/7/822galanginIVCpreimplantation embryoNrf2oxidative stressmitochondria
spellingShingle Zhi-Chao Chi
Shu-Ming Shi
Li-Ying Liu
Lin-Yi Qu
Jing-Hang Li
Guan-Lin Jia
Yu-Yan He
Lin-Xuan Li
Yong-Xun Jin
Ming-Jun Zhang
Xian-Feng Yu
Galangin Regulates Oxidative Stress Levels in Porcine Embryos Through Interaction with the Neh1 Domain of Nrf2
Antioxidants
galangin
IVC
preimplantation embryo
Nrf2
oxidative stress
mitochondria
title Galangin Regulates Oxidative Stress Levels in Porcine Embryos Through Interaction with the Neh1 Domain of Nrf2
title_full Galangin Regulates Oxidative Stress Levels in Porcine Embryos Through Interaction with the Neh1 Domain of Nrf2
title_fullStr Galangin Regulates Oxidative Stress Levels in Porcine Embryos Through Interaction with the Neh1 Domain of Nrf2
title_full_unstemmed Galangin Regulates Oxidative Stress Levels in Porcine Embryos Through Interaction with the Neh1 Domain of Nrf2
title_short Galangin Regulates Oxidative Stress Levels in Porcine Embryos Through Interaction with the Neh1 Domain of Nrf2
title_sort galangin regulates oxidative stress levels in porcine embryos through interaction with the neh1 domain of nrf2
topic galangin
IVC
preimplantation embryo
Nrf2
oxidative stress
mitochondria
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/14/7/822
work_keys_str_mv AT zhichaochi galanginregulatesoxidativestresslevelsinporcineembryosthroughinteractionwiththeneh1domainofnrf2
AT shumingshi galanginregulatesoxidativestresslevelsinporcineembryosthroughinteractionwiththeneh1domainofnrf2
AT liyingliu galanginregulatesoxidativestresslevelsinporcineembryosthroughinteractionwiththeneh1domainofnrf2
AT linyiqu galanginregulatesoxidativestresslevelsinporcineembryosthroughinteractionwiththeneh1domainofnrf2
AT jinghangli galanginregulatesoxidativestresslevelsinporcineembryosthroughinteractionwiththeneh1domainofnrf2
AT guanlinjia galanginregulatesoxidativestresslevelsinporcineembryosthroughinteractionwiththeneh1domainofnrf2
AT yuyanhe galanginregulatesoxidativestresslevelsinporcineembryosthroughinteractionwiththeneh1domainofnrf2
AT linxuanli galanginregulatesoxidativestresslevelsinporcineembryosthroughinteractionwiththeneh1domainofnrf2
AT yongxunjin galanginregulatesoxidativestresslevelsinporcineembryosthroughinteractionwiththeneh1domainofnrf2
AT mingjunzhang galanginregulatesoxidativestresslevelsinporcineembryosthroughinteractionwiththeneh1domainofnrf2
AT xianfengyu galanginregulatesoxidativestresslevelsinporcineembryosthroughinteractionwiththeneh1domainofnrf2