Curcumin-Attenuated TREM-1/DAP12/NLRP3/Caspase-1/IL1B, TLR4/NF-κB Pathways, and Tau Hyperphosphorylation Induced by 1,2-Diacetyl Benzene: An in Vitro and in Silico Study.

We aimed to evaluate the effects of 1,2-diacetylbenzene (DAB) and curcumin on neuroinflammation induced by DAB via triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (TREM-1), Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), and NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLP3)/calcium-dependent activator protein for secretion 1 (CAPS1)/interleukin 1 beta (IL1B) pathways; tau hyperphosphorylation; reactive oxygen species (ROS); and advanced glycation end-product (AGE) in microglia cells; and explore the molecular mechanisms involved in the key genes induced by DAB and targeted by curcumin in silico analysis. In this study, Western blot, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and immunocytochemistry were used as the key methods in vitro. In silico analysis, GeneMANIA, ToppFun feature, Metascape, CHEA3, Cytoscape, Autodock, and MIENTURNET were the core approaches used. Curcumin inhibited both the DAB-induced TREM-1/DAP12/NLRP3/caspase-1/IL1B pathway and the TLR4/NF-κB pathway. In BV2 cells, curcumin inhibited ROS, AGE, hyperphosphorylation, glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), and β-amyloid while activating nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) expression. In silico studies showed that tumor necrosis factor (TNF), IL6, NFKB1, IL10, and IL1B, as well as MTF1 and ZNF267, were shown to be important genes and transcription factors in the pathogenesis of cognitive impairment produced by DAB and curcumin. Three significant miRNAs (hsa-miR-26a-5p, hsa-miR-203a-3p, and hsa-miR-155-5p) implicated in the etiology of DAB-induced cognitive impairment and targeted by curcumin were also identified. Inflammation and cytokine-associated pathways, Alzheimer's disease, and cognitive impairment were characterized as the most significant biological processes implicated in genes, miRNAs, and transcription factors induced by DAB and targeted by curcumin. Our findings provide new insight into fundamental molecular mechanisms implicated in the pathogenesis of cognitive impairment caused by DAB, particularly the effects of neuroinflammation. Furthermore, this study suggests that curcumin might be a promising therapeutic molecule for cognitive impairment treatment through modulating neuroinflammatory responses.