Chlorogenic acid: A potent molecule that protects cardiomyocytes from TNF-α-induced injury via inhibiting NF-κB and JNK signals

The traditional Chinese herb Lonicerae Japonicae Flos has shown significant clinical benefits in the treatment of heart failure, but the mechanism remains unclear. As the main active ingredient found in the plasma after oral administration of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos, chlorogenic acid (CGA) has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-apoptosis function. We firstly confirmed the cardioprotective effects of CGA in transverse aortic constriction (TAC)-induced heart failure mouse model, through mitigating the TNF-alpha-induced toxicity. We further used TNF-alpha-induced cardiac injury in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. CGA pre-treatment could reverse TNF-alpha-induced cellular injuries, including improved cell viability, increased mitochondrial membrane potential and inhibited cardiomyocytes apoptosis. We then examined the NF-kappa B/p65 and major mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) signalling pathways involved in TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis of hiPSC-CMs. Importantly, CGA can directly inhibit NI-kappa B signal by suppressing the phosphorylation of NF-kappa B/p65. As for the MAPKs, CGA suppressed the activity of only c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), but enhanced extracellular signal-regulated kinasel/2 (ERK1/2) and had no effect on p38. In summary, our study revealed that CGA has profound cardioprotective effects through inhibiting the activation of NF-kappa B and JNK pathway, providing a novel therapeutic alternative for prevention and treatment of heart failure.