Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:1.3.5.1 (succinate dehydrogenase)
 8,177 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

After injury, the striatum displays several morphologic responses that may play a role in both regenerative and degenerative events. One such response is the de novo expression of the low-affinity p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75(NTR)), a gene that plays critical roles in central nervous system (CNS) cell death pathways. The present series of experiments sought to elucidate the cellular origins of this p75(NTR) response, to define the conditions under which p75(NTR) is expressed after striatal injury, and how this receptor expression is associated with neuronal plasticity. After chemical lesions, by using either the excitotoxin quinolinic acid (QA) or the complex II mitochondria inhibitor 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP), we compared the expression of the p75(NTR) receptor within the rat striatum at different survival times. Intrastriatal administration of QA between 7 days and 21 days postlesion induced p75(NTR) expression in astrocytes that was preferentially distributed throughout the lesion core. P75(NTR) immunoreactivity within astrocytes was seen at high (100-220 nmol) but not low (50 nmol) QA doses. Seven and 21 days after 3-NP lesions, p75(NTR) expression was present in astrocytes at all doses tested (100-1,000 nmol). However, in contrast to QA, these cells were located primarily around the periphery of the lesion and not within the lesion core. At the light microscopic level p75(NTR) immunoreactive elements resembled vasculature: but did not colocalize with the pan endothelium cell marker RecA-1. In contrast, p75(NTR)-containing astrocytes colocalized with nestin, vimentin, and 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine, indicating that these cells are newly born astrocytes. Additionally, striatal cholinergic neurons were distributed around the lesion core expressed p75(NTR) 3-5 days after lesion in both QA and 3-NP lesions. These cells did not coexpress the pro-apoptotic degradation enzyme caspase-3. Taken together, these data indicate that striatal lesions created by means of excitotoxic or metabolic mechanisms trigger the expression of p75(NTR) in structures related to progenitor cells. The expression of the p75(NTR) receptor after these chemical lesions support the concept that this receptor plays a role in the initiation of endogenous cellular events associated with CNS injury.
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PMID:Excitotoxic and metabolic damage to the rodent striatum: role of the P75 neurotrophin receptor and glial progenitors. 1189 44

Oxidative stress is believed to greatly contribute to the pathogenesis of various diseases, including neurodegeneration. Impairment of mitochondrial energy production and increased mitochondrial oxidative damage are considered early pathological events that lead to neurodegeneration. Manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD, SOD2) is a mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme that converts toxic superoxide to hydrogen peroxide. To investigate the pathological role of mitochondrial oxidative stress in the central nervous system, we generated brain-specific SOD2-deficient mice (B-Sod2(-/-)) using nestin-Cre-loxp system. B-Sod2(-/-) showed perinatal death, along with severe growth retardation. Interestingly, these mice exhibited spongiform neurodegeneration in motor cortex, hippocampus, and brainstem, accompanied by gliosis. In addition, the mutant mice had markedly decreased mitochondrial complex II activity, but not complex I or IV, in the brain based on enzyme histochemistry. Furthermore, brain lipid peroxidation was significantly increased in the B-Sod2(-/-), without any compensatory alterations of the activities of other antioxidative enzymes, such as catalase or glutathione peroxidase. These results suggest that SOD2 protects the neural system from oxidative stress in the perinatal stage and is essential for infant survival and central neural function in mice.
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PMID:Brain-Specific Superoxide Dismutase 2 Deficiency Causes Perinatal Death with Spongiform Encephalopathy in Mice. 2630 Oct 39