Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.5.4.4 (adenosine deaminase)
 5,136 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Adenosine has been proposed as a metabolic factor involved in the regulation of cerebral blood flow. The evidence in support of this hypothesis, presented in this review, includes information on the adenosine receptors associated with cerebral blood vessels, the synthesis and metabolism of adenosine, and the release of adenosine from the brain. Adenosine dilates cerebral blood vessels, acting at an A2 receptor. The critical evidence implicating an involvement of adenosine in cerebrovascular regulation is derived from experiments with adenosine antagonists and potentiators. The antagonists include methylxanthine adenosine receptor antagonists and the enzyme adenosine deaminase. Potentiators include transport inhibitors, enzyme inhibitors, and adenosine precursors. Adenosine has been implicated in vascular regulation during hypoxia/ischemia, hypercapnia, seizures, severe hypotension, and hypoglycemia. Adenosine possesses a number of properties that can be used to minimize neuronal degeneration during cerebral insults, such as ischemia, including vasodilatation, reduction of excitatory transmitter release, reduction of membrane calcium permeability, inhibition of platelets, and neutrophil aggregation. Several recent studies have demonstrated that manipulation of central adenosine tone can alter the extent of cerebral ischemic damage, indicating a potential new therapeutic approach for the treatment of stroke.
 ...
PMID:Adenosine in the control of the cerebral circulation. 270 69

Adenosine (ADO) and nitric oxide (NO) have been implicated in a variety of neurophysiological actions, including induction of long-term potentiation, regulation of cerebral blood flow, and neurotoxicity/neuroprotection. ADO has been shown to promote NO release from astrocytes by a direct effect on A1 and A2 receptors, thus providing a link between actions of NO and adenosine in the brain. However, while adenosine acts as an endogenous neuroprotectant, NO is believed to be the effector of glutamate neurotoxicity. To resolve this apparent paradox, we have further investigated the effects of adenosine and NO on neuronal viability in cultured organotypic hippocampal slices exposed to sub-lethal (20') in vitro ischemia. Up to a concentration of 500 microM ADO did not cause toxicity while exposures to 100 microM of the stable ADO analogue chloroadenosine (CADO) caused widespread neuronal damage when paired to anoxia/hypoglycemia. CADO effects were significantly prevented by the ADO receptor antagonist theophylline and blockade of NO production by L-NA (100 microM). Moreover, CADO effects were mimicked by the NO donor SIN-1 (100 microM). Application of 100 microM ADO following blockade of adenosine deaminase (with 10 microM EHNA) replicated the effects of CADO. CADO, ADO + EHNA but not ADO alone caused a prolonged and sustained release of nitric oxide as measured by direct amperometric detection. We conclude that at high concentrations and/or following blockade of its enzymatic catabolism, ADO may cause neurotoxicity by triggering NO release from astrocytes. These results demonstrate for the first time that activation of pathways other than those involving neuronal glutamate receptors can trigger NO-mediated neuronal cell death in the hippocampus.
 ...
PMID:Neurotoxicity in organotypic hippocampal slices mediated by adenosine analogues and nitric oxide. 926 61