Gambogic acid protects LPS-induced apoptosis and inflammation in a cell model of neonatal pneumonia through the regulation of TrkA/Akt signaling pathway

OBJECTIVE: In this work, we investigated the effects of gambogic acid (GA) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced apoptosis and inflammation in a cell model of neonatal pneumonia. METHOD: Human WI-38 cells were maintained in vitro and incubated with various concentrations of GA to examine WI-38 survival. GA-preincubated WI-38 cells were then treated with LPS to investigate the protective effects of GA on LPS-induced death, apoptosis and inflammation. Western blot assay was utilized to analyze the effect of GA on tropomyosin receptor kinase A (TrkA) signaling pathway in LPS-treated WI-38 cells. In addition, human AKT serine/threonine kinase 1 (Akt) gene was knocked down in WI-38 cells to further investigate the associated genetic mechanisms of GA in protecting LPS-induced inflammation and apoptosis. RESULTS: Pre-incubating WI-38 cells with low and medium concentrations GA protected LPS-induced cell death, apoptosis and inflammatory protein productions of IL-6 and MCP-1. Using western blot assay, it was demonstrated that GA promoted TrkA phosphorylation and Akt activation in LPS-treated WI-38 cells. Knocking down Akt gene in WI-38 cells showed that GA-associated protections against LPS-induced apoptosis and inflammation were significantly reduced. CONCLUSIONS: GA protected LPS-induced apoptosis and inflammation, possibly through the activations of TrkA and Akt signaling pathway. This work may broaden our understanding on the molecular mechanisms of human neonatal pneumonia. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40360-021-00496-9.