Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0917798 (cerebral ischemia)
 17,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

1. The reactions of nitric oxide with superoxide can lead to neurotoxicity through formation of peroxynitrite, and not by NO. alone, at least under our conditions. 2. Transfer of NO+ groups to thiol(s) on the NMDA receptor can lead to neuroprotection by inhibiting Ca2+ influx. These findings suggest that cell function can be controlled by, or through, protein S-nitrosylation, and raise the possibility that the NO group may initiate signal transduction in or at the plasma membrane. 3. The local redox milieu of a biological system is of critical importance in understanding NO actions as disparate chemical pathways involving distinct redox related congeners of NO may trigger neurotoxic or neuroprotective pathways. These claims are highlighted in the CNS by the recent finding that tissue concentrations of cysteine approach 700 microM in settings of cerebral ischemia (Slivka and Cohen, 1993); these levels of thiol would be expected to influence the redox state of the NO group. 4. Finally, our findings suggest novel therapeutic strategies. For example, downregulation of NMDA receptor activity via S-nitrosylation with NO+ donors could be implemented in the treatment of focal ischemia, AIDS dementia, and other neurological disorders associated, at least in part, with excessive activation of NMDA receptors.
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PMID:Nitric oxide in the central nervous system. 788 18

The transport of glutathione (GSH) or glutathione isopropyl ester (GSH isopropyl ester) to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in rats was estimated by levels of GSH or GSH isopropyl ester and their metabolites in CSF 30 min after the intravenous administration of GSH or GSH isopropyl ester (300 mg/kg). Although the CSF uptake of GSH isopropyl ester was almost equal to that of GSH as evidenced by about a two-fold increase in the amount of non-protein sulfhydryl groups in CSF, the sum of GSH isopropyl ester and GSH concentrations in the CSF after GSH isopropyl ester treatment was increased by 32% compared with saline-treated controls. On the other hand, treatment with GSH had no significant increase in GSH levels in CSF but increased its metabolite levels, such as cysteinyl-glycine and cysteine. GSH isopropyl ester was less metabolized than GSH. GSH isopropyl ester had low affinity to purified gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, a key enzyme for metabolism of GSH in the choroid plexus, supporting the finding that GSH isopropyl ester is more stable than GSH in CSF. These results are compatible with our previous report (Yamamoto et al. (1993) showing that the protective action of GSH isopropyl ester against cerebral ischemia was greater than that of GSH in rats. GSH isopropyl ester may be a useful agent which protects the brain from the damage associated with oxygen-related toxicities by increasing GSH levels in the CSF.
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PMID:Transport and metabolism of glutathione isopropyl ester in cerebrospinal fluid. 856 90

The noradrenergic neurotransmitter (-)-norepinephrine (1) is very easily oxidized at physiological pH to an o-quinone (2) that normally cyclizes and subsequently oxidatively polymerizes to black melanin. In this investigation it is demonstrated that L-cysteine (CySH) can divert the melanin pathway by efficiently scavenging o-quinone 2 to give, initially, 5-S-cysteinylnorepinephrine (6) and 2-S-cysteinylnorepinephrine (7). These cysteinyl conjugates are appreciably more easily oxidized than 1 to o-quinones that, in part, are further attacked by CySH to give 2,5-bi-S-cysteinylnorepinephrine (8), an even more easily oxidized compound. The o-quinone intermediates formed upon oxidation of 6-8 can also undergo facile intramolecular cyclizations to bicyclic o-quinone imines that oxidize the cysteinyl conjugates from which they are derived in a reaction sequence that leads initially to a number of dihydrobenzothiazines. At least two of these compounds, 7-(1-hydroxy-2-aminoethyl)-3,4-dihydro-5- hydroxy-2H-1,4-benzothiazine-3-carboxylic acid (9) and 8-(1-hydroxy-2-aminoethyl)-3,4-dihydro-5-hydroxy-2H-1, 4-benzothiazine-3-carboxylic acid (10) are lethal when administered into the brains of mice. The in vitro chemical pathways elucidated in this investigation might be of relevance to the depigmentation and degeneration of neuromelanin-pigmented noradrenergic cell bodies in the locus ceruleus in Parkinson's Disease and to the degeneration of noradrenergic nerve terminals in Alzheimer's Disease and following transient cerebral ischemia (stroke).
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PMID:Oxidation chemistry of (-)-norepinephrine in the presence of L-cysteine. 864 60

Using in vitro models, our laboratory in collaboration with those of Pierluigi Nicotera (University of Konstanz, Germany) and Stan Orrenius (Karolinska Institute) has recently shown that fulminant insults to the nervous system from excitotoxins or free radicals result in neuronal cell death from necrosis, while more subtle insults result in delayed apoptosis. Over the past dozen or so years, mounting evidence has suggested that excitotoxins, such as glutamate, result in neuronal cell death after stroke. More recent evidence has suggested that in addition to necrotic cell death in the ischemic core, a number of neurons may also undergo apoptosis. Thus, the hypothesis that intense injury leads to necrosis while mild insult (perhaps in the penumbra) leads to apoptosis may hold in focal cerebral ischemia. Another neurological malady with mounting evidence for a pathogenesis that is mediated at least in part by excitotoxins is HIV-1-associated cognitive/motor complex (originally termed the AIDS Dementia Complex and, for convenience, designated here AIDS dementia). AIDS dementia appears to be associated with several neuropathological abnormalities, including giant cell formation by microglia, astrogliosis, and neuronal injury or loss. Recently, neuronal and other cell injury in AIDS brains has been shown to result in apoptotic-like cell death. How can HIV-1 result in neuronal damage if neurons themselves are only rarely, if ever, infected by the virus? Experiments from several different laboratories, including our group in collaboration with that of Howard Gendelman (University of Nebraska Medical Center), have lent support to the existence of HIV- and immune-related toxins in a variety of in vitro and in vivo paradigms. In one recently defined pathway to neuronal injury, HIV-infected macrophages/ microglia as well as macrophages activated by HIV-1 envelope protein gp120 appear to secrete excitants/ neurotoxins. These substances may include arachidonic acid, platelet-activating factor, free radicals (NO. and O2.-), glutamate, quinolinate, cysteine, cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL1-beta, IL-6), amines, and as yet unidentified factors emanating from stimulated macrophages and possibly reactive astrocytes. A final common pathway for neuronal susceptibility appears to be operative, similar to that observed in stroke and several neurodegenerative diseases. This mechanism involves excessive activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-operated channels, with resultant excessive influx of Ca2+ and the generation of free radicals, leading to neuronal damage. With the very recent development of clinically-tolerated NMDA antagonists, as discussed here, there is hope for future pharmacological intervention.
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PMID:Similarity of neuronal cell injury and death in AIDS dementia and focal cerebral ischemia: potential treatment with NMDA open-channel blockers and nitric oxide-related species. 894 20

Apoptosis is one of the most exciting and intensely investigated areas of biology and medicine today. Cysteine proteases called caspases serve as the executioners of apoptosis, a form of cell suicide. Hypoxic/ischemic cell death proceeds in part, by apoptosis, particularly within the periinfarct zone or ischemic penumbra. During ischemia, activated caspases dismantle the cell by cleaving multiple substrates including cytoskeletal proteins and enzymes essential for cell repair. Strategies that inhibit caspase activity block cell death in experimental models of mild ischemia, and preserve neurological function. The therapeutic window for caspase inhibition is substantially longer than for glutamate receptor antagonists, and treatment combinations with both classes of drugs decrease ischemic injury and expand the treatment window synergistically. Hence, the caspases are now recognized as novel therapeutic targets for central nervous system diseases in which cell death is prominent. This article will review the evidence and the potential importance of caspase inhibition to cerebral ischemia and briefly summarize an emerging body of data implicating caspases in cell death accompanying neurodegenerative disorders.
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PMID:Caspases as treatment targets in stroke and neurodegenerative diseases. 1021 65

Antioxidant therapy has been shown to be beneficial in neurological disorders including Alzheimer's disease and cerebral ischemia. Glutamate-induced cytotoxicity in HT-4 neuronal cells has been previously demonstrated to be due to oxidative stress caused by depletion of cellular glutathione (GSH). The present study demonstrates that a wide variety of antioxidants inhibit glutamate-induced cytotoxicity in HT-4 neuronal cells. Low concentrations of alpha-tocopherol and its analogs were highly effective in protecting neuronal cells against cytotoxicity. Purified flavonoids and herbal extracts of Gingko biloba (EGb 761) and French maritime pine bark (Pycnogenol) were also effective. We have previously shown that pro-glutathione agents can spare GSH and protect cells from glutamate insult in a C6 glial cell model. The protective effects of nonthiol-based antioxidants tested in the HT-4 line were not mediated via GSH level modulation. In contrast, protective effects of thiol-based pro-glutathione agents alpha-lipoic acid (LA) and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) corresponded with a sparing effect on GSH levels in glutamate-treated HT-4 cells. Glutamate-induced cytotoxicity in HT-4 cells is a useful model system for testing compounds or mixtures for antioxidant activity.
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PMID:Antioxidants and herbal extracts protect HT-4 neuronal cells against glutamate-induced cytotoxicity. 1065 82

Although more than 8000 papers of apoptosis are published annually, there are very few reports concerning necrosis in the past few years. A number of recent studies using lower species animals have suggested that the cornu Ammonis (CA) 1 neuronal death after brief global cerebral ischemia occurs by apoptosis, an active and genetically controlled cell suicide process. However, the studies of monkeys and humans rather support necrosis, the calpain-mediated release of lysosomal enzyme cathepsin after ischemia conceivably contributes to the cell degeneration of CA1 neurons. This paper provides an overview of recent developments in ischemic neuronal death, presents the cascade of the primate neuronal death with particular attentions to the cysteine proteases, and also indicates selective cathepsin inhibitors as a novel neuroprotectant. Furthermore, the possible interaction of calpain, cathepsin, and caspase in the cascade of ischemic neuronal death is discussed.
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PMID:Implication of cysteine proteases calpain, cathepsin and caspase in ischemic neuronal death of primates. 1084 Jan 50

Metallothioneins (MTs) are cysteine-rich metal-binding proteins that are potentially involved in zinc homeostasis and free radical scavenging. The expression pattern of MT-1 and the binding activity of various MT-1 promoter elements were investigated after mild focal cerebral ischemia in the rat. Transient focal ischemia was induced by occluding both common carotid arteries and the right middle cerebral artery for 30 min. By the use of real-time quantitative PCR, a 10-fold increase in MT-1 and -2 mRNA levels was found in the cortex 24 hr after reperfusion. In situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry showed a rapid increase in MT-1 and -2 mRNA and MT protein in endothelial cells of microvessels at 6 hr after reperfusion, followed by an increased expression in astrocytes of the infarcted cortex at 24 hr after reperfusion. The early increase in MT expression preceded an increase in cerebral edema measured with T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Gel shift assays were performed on nuclear extracts prepared from cortices before and at 6 and 24 hr after reperfusion. Increased binding activity was found at an antioxidant/electrophilic response element (ARE) sequence in the MT-1 promoter at 6 hr with a lower and variable binding activity at 24 hr after reperfusion. Constitutive binding activity was found for Sp1 and a metal response element in the MT-1 promoter that did not increase after ischemia and reperfusion. This study suggests a role of ARE-binding proteins in inducing cerebral MT-1 expression and implicates MT-1 as one of the early detoxifying genes in an endogenous defense response to cerebral ischemia and reperfusion.
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PMID:Increased binding activity at an antioxidant-responsive element in the metallothionein-1 promoter and rapid induction of metallothionein-1 and -2 in response to cerebral ischemia and reperfusion. 1088 3

The calpains form a growing family of structurally related intracellular multidomain cysteine proteinases containing a papain-related catalytic domain, whose activity depends on calcium. The calpains are believed to play important roles in cytoskeletal remodeling processes, cell differentiation, apoptosis and signal transduction, but are also implicated in muscular dystrophy, cardiac and cerebral ischemia, platelet aggregation, restenosis, neurodegenerative diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and cataract formation. The best characterized calpains, the ubiquitously expressed mu- and m-calpains, are heterodimers consisting of a common 30-kDa small and a variable 80-kDa subunit. The recently determined crystal structures of human and rat m-calpain crystallized in the absence of calcium essentially explain the inactivity of the apoform by catalytic domain disruption, indicate several sites where calcium could bind causing reformation of a papain-like catalytic domain, and additionally reveal modes by which phospholipid membranes could reduce the calcium requirement. Current evidence points to a cooperative interaction of several sites, which, upon calcium binding, trigger the reformation of a papain-similar catalytic domain.
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PMID:The structure of calcium-free human m-calpain: implications for calcium activation and function. 1167 52

We have used a rat model of focal cerebral ischemia to investigate changes in gene expression that occur during stroke. To monitor these changes, we employed representational difference analysis-polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A total of 128 unique gene fragments were isolated, and we selected 13 of these for quantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR analysis. Of these 13 genes, we found seven that were differentially expressed. Four of these genes have not previously been implicated in stroke, and include neuronal activity regulated pentraxin (Narp), cysteine rich protein 61 (Cyr61), Bcl-2 binding protein BIS (Bcl-2-interacting death suppressor), and lectin-like ox-LDL receptor (LOX-1). We demonstrated differential expression of each gene by quantitative PCR analysis, and in the case of LOX-1, we further confirmed differential expression by in situ hybridization. LOX-1 expression is induced greater than ten fold at the core lesion site, and is essentially localized to the ipsilateral half of the brain. LOX-1 appears to be expressed in a non-neuronal cell type, and it does not appear to be expressed in vascular endothelial cells within the brain. This suggests that LOX-1 may serve a novel function in the brain.
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PMID:Identification of differentially expressed genes induced by transient ischemic stroke. 1200 27


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