Salvigenin mitigates neuronal ferroptosis by binding to PI3K and enhancing the interaction between VCP and PI3K in the repair of spinal cord injury.

Background: Spinal cord injury (SCI) represents a major public health issue, characterized by the excessive production of lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS), iron accumulation, and lipid peroxidation within the injured spinal cord, which are closely related to ferroptosis. Recently, an increasing number of natural drug monomers including salvigenin (SGN) have shown potential therapeutic value in the nervous system.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the therapeutic potential and underlying molecular mechanism of SGN in the repair of SCI by mitigating ferroptosis.

Methods: In vivo, rat model of SCI was employed to assess the effect of SGN on neuroinflammation, neuronal ferroptosis, axonal regeneration, and motor function recovery. In vitro, neuronal ferroptosis models were created by stimulating VSC4.1 cells with erastin. Bioinformatics, western blot, RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence staining (IF), flow cytometry, cell thermal shift assay (CETSA), molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) and mass spectrometry (MS) were utilized to explore the mechanism by which SGN mitigates ferroptosis.

Results: In an in vivo setting, the administration of SGN markedly reduced neuronal ferroptosis, enhanced axonal regeneration and improved motor recovery in rats with SCI. In vitro, SGN mitigated erastin-induced ferroptosis-related events (decreased glutathione (GSH) levels, increased malondialdehyde (MDA) and Fe²⁺ levels), suppressing the iNOS/COX-2-ferroptosis axis and alleviated the inflammatory microenvironment mediated by activated BV2 microglia. Mechanistically, SGN mitigated neuronal ferroptosis by binding to PI3K and activating the PI3K/AKT/GPX4 signaling pathway. This was substantiated by molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, cell thermal shift assay (CETSA), western blot analysis, immunofluorescence staining and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The protective effect of SGN was negated by PI3K inhibition. Moreover, the co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) and mass spectrometry (MS) analyses revealed that SGN enhanced the interaction between VCP and PI3K, resulting in increased phosphorylation of PI3K. The knockdown of VCP partially mitigated this effect and intensified ferroptosis.

Conclusion: Our study identifies that SGN mitigates neuronal ferroptosis by binding to PI3K and enhancing the interaction between VCP and PI3K to activate PI3K/AKT/GPX4 signaling pathway in the repair of SCI, which uncovers the therapeutic potential of SGN for SCI.