Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.11.17 (CaMKII)
4,029 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The nucleoside adenosine (ADO) is a neuromodulator in brain. ADO and its metabolite inosine (INO) have been shown to increase cell viability in stroke models. During ischemia, extracellular levels of both ADO and INO are increased. In this study, we treated rat cortical neurons with N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) to initiate excitotoxicity and then investigated the mechanisms of ADO and INO release. NMDA induced a significant increase in ADO and INO production. The effect of NMDA receptor antagonists on NMDA-evoked ADO and INO release was examined. MK-801 (1 micromol/L), a potent antagonist that lacks receptor subunit selectivity, completely blocked evoked release of both ADO and INO. Memantine (10 micromol/L), a lower affinity antagonist that also lacks subunit selectivity, blocked INO, but not ADO, release. Ifenprodil (10 micromol/L), an inhibitor selective for NMDA receptors containing the NR2B subunit, completely blocked evoked ADO and INO release. NVP-AAM077 (NVP, 0.4 micromol/L), an inhibitor selective for NMDA receptors containing the NR2A subunit, did not significantly block evoked release of either ADO or INO. Removal of extracellular Ca2+ abolished NMDA-evoked release of both ADO and INO. BAPTA (25 micromol/L), which chelates intracellular Ca2+, had no significant effect on either ADO or INO release unless extracellular Ca2+ was also removed. Inhibitors of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) prevented NMDA-evoked ADO and INO release and decreased nucleoside transporter function. These data indicate that NMDA-evoked ADO and INO release is dependent on subunit composition of NMDA receptors. As well, NMDA-evoked ADO and INO release requires nucleoside transporters and extracellular Ca2+ and is enhanced by activation of CaMKII.
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PMID:N-methyl-D-aspartate-evoked adenosine and inosine release from neurons requires extracellular calcium. 2005 11

Here, we report a novel target of the drug memantine, ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channels, potentially relevant to memory improvement. We confirmed that memantine antagonizes memory impairment in Alzheimer's model APP23 mice. Memantine increased CaMKII activity in the APP23 mouse hippocampus, and memantine-induced enhancement of hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) and CaMKII activity was totally abolished by treatment with pinacidil, a specific opener of KATP channels. Memantine also inhibited Kir6.1 and Kir6.2 KATP channels and elevated intracellular Ca2+ concentrations in neuro2A cells overexpressing Kir6.1 or Kir6.2. Kir6.2 was preferentially expressed at postsynaptic regions of hippocampal neurons, whereas Kir6.1 was predominant in dendrites and cell bodies of pyramidal neurons. Finally, we confirmed that Kir6.2 mutant mice exhibit severe memory deficits and impaired hippocampal LTP, impairments that cannot be rescued by memantine administration. Altogether, our studies show that memantine modulates Kir6.2 activity, and that the Kir6.2 channel is a novel target for therapeutics to improve memory impairment in Alzheimer disease patients.
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PMID:Blockade of the KATP channel Kir6.2 by memantine represents a novel mechanism relevant to Alzheimer's disease therapy. 2777 20