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)

The water channel AQP4 is concentrated in perivascular and subpial membrane domains of brain astrocytes. These membranes form the interface between the neuropil and extracerebral liquid spaces. AQP4 is anchored at these membranes by its carboxyl terminus to alpha-syntrophin, an adapter protein associated with dystrophin. To test functions of the perivascular AQP4 pool, we studied mice homozygous for targeted disruption of the gene encoding alpha-syntrophin (alpha-Syn(-/-)). These animals show a marked loss of AQP4 from perivascular and subpial membranes but no decrease in other membrane domains, as judged by quantitative immunogold electron microscopy. In the basal state, perivascular and subpial astroglial end-feet were swollen in brains of alpha-Syn(-/-) mice compared to WT mice, suggesting reduced clearance of water generated by brain metabolism. When stressed by transient cerebral ischemia, brain edema was attenuated in alpha-Syn(-/-) mice, indicative of reduced water influx. Surprisingly, AQP4 was strongly reduced but alpha-syntrophin was retained in perivascular astroglial end-feet in WT mice examined 23 h after transient cerebral ischemia. Thus alpha-syntrophin-dependent anchoring of AQP4 is sensitive to ischemia, and loss of AQP4 from this site may retard the dissipation of postischemic brain edema. These studies identify a specific, syntrophin-dependent AQP4 pool that is expressed at distinct membrane domains and which mediates bidirectional transport of water across the brain-blood interface. The anchoring of AQP4 to alpha-syntrophin may be a target for treatment of brain edema, but therapeutic manipulations of AQP4 must consider the bidirectional water flux through this molecule.
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PMID:An alpha-syntrophin-dependent pool of AQP4 in astroglial end-feet confers bidirectional water flow between blood and brain. 1257 59

Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) has been shown to be important in the evolution of stroke-associated cerebral edema. However, the role of AQP4 in stroke-associated cerebral edema as it pertains to sex has not been previously studied. The perivascular pool of AQP4 is important in the influx and efflux of water during focal cerebral ischemia. We used mice with targeted disruption of the gene encoding alpha-syntrophin (alpha-Syn(-/-)) that lack the perivascular AQP4 pool but retain the endothelial pool of this protein. Infarct volume at 72 h after transient focal ischemia (90 mins) in isoflurane-anesthetized mice was attenuated in both sexes with alpha-Syn deletion as compared with their wild-type (WT) counterparts. There were no sex differences in hemispheric water content in WT and alpha-Syn(-/-) mice or regional AQP4 expression in WT mice. In neither sex did alpha-Syn deletion lead to alterations in end-ischemic regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). These data suggest that after experimental stroke: (1) there is no difference in stroke-associated cerebral edema based on sex, (2) AQP4 does not involve in sex-based differences in stroke volume, and (3) perivascular pool of AQP4 has no significant role in end-ischemic rCBF.
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PMID:Lack of sex-linked differences in cerebral edema and aquaporin-4 expression after experimental stroke. 1864 81