Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P20366 (substance P)
 21,176 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Quinolinic acid (QA) is an endogenous excitotoxin present in mammalian brain that reproduces many of the histologic and neurochemical features of Huntington's disease (HD). In the present study we have examined the ability of a variety of systemically administered compounds to modify striatal QA neurotoxicity. Lesions were assessed by measurements of the intrinsic striatal neurotransmitters substance P, somatostatin, neuropeptide Y, and GABA. Histologic examination was performed with Nissl stains. The antioxidants ascorbic acid, beta-carotene, and alpha-tocopherol administered s.c. for 3 d prior to striatal QA lesions had no significant effect. Other drugs were administered i.p. 1/2 hr prior to QA striatal lesions. The following were ineffective in blocking QA excitotoxicity: allopurinol, 50 and 100 mg/kg; ketamine, 75 mg/kg; nimodipine, 2.4, and 10 mg/kg; baclofen, 10 mg/kg; 2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate, 50 mg/kg; and 2-amino-7-phosphonoheptanoate, 50 mg/kg. Oral taurine administration for 4 weeks resulted in significantly increased levels of brain taurine but had no significant effect in blocking QA neurotoxicity. Systemic administration of the noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist MK-801 resulted in a dose-responsive protection against QA toxicity, with complete block at a dose of 4 mg/kg. If the pathogenesis of HD involves QA or another excitotoxin acting at the NMDA receptor, it is possible that MK-801 could retard the degenerative process.
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PMID:Systemic approaches to modifying quinolinic acid striatal lesions in rats. 246 37

Iodinated SCH 23390, [125I]SCH 23982, saturably binds in brain to D1 receptors that mostly reside on striatal and striatonigral neurons. [125I]SCH 23982 autoradiography was used to determine the topography of D1 receptor-containing striatal inputs to subregions of the substantia nigra. The concentration of D1 sites was greatest in the pars reticulata of the substantia nigra and exceeded by over 50% the equal concentrations of D1 sites in the lateral substantia nigra, caudate-putamen, nucleus accumbens, and olfactory tubercle. D1 receptors were uniformly concentrated throughout the caudate-putamen and were absent in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area. Injections into the rostral striatum of the axon-sparing neurotoxin, quinolinic acid, depleted the concentration of D1 sites in the rostral caudate-putamen by 98% and the concentration of D1 sites in the medial substantia nigra by up to 74%. Quinolinic acid-induced losses of the D1 sites in the central striatum of up to 85% were associated with 87% losses of D1 sites in the central nigra. D1 losses of 91% in the caudal striatum were associated with D1 losses of 85% in the lateral nigra. Thus, most D1 sites in the striatum reside on neurons that are intrinsic to that brain region, and the vast majority of D1 sites in the substantia nigra are on the terminals of striatonigral neurons. These D1 receptor-containing striatonigral neurons have a rostral, central, or caudal origin in the striatum and a corresponding medial, central, or lateral termination in the nigra. This topographical organization of striatal inputs to the substantia nigra indicates that substance P or dynorphin B-containing striatonigral neurons may have D1 receptors on their terminals.
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PMID:Topography of substantia nigra innervation by D1 receptor-containing striatal neurons. 295 7

The neuroprotective effect of tachykinins against excitotoxic death of cholinergic neurons was studied in rat striatal cell cultures. Quinolinic acid (QUIN) and kainic acid (KA) produced a dose dependent decrease in choline acetyltransferase activity, but KA was more potent. Our results show that substance P (SP) totally reversed the toxicity induced by 125 microM QUIN but not by 40 microM KA. This effect was also observed using protease inhibitors or a SP-analog resistant to degradation, [Sar9]-Substance P. The survival of neuron specific enolase- and acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-positive cells after treatment with QUIN alone or in the presence of SP was also examined. We observed that, while a decrease in total cell number produced by QUIN was not prevented by SP treatment, AChE-positive cells were rescued from the toxic damage. To characterize the SP protective effect we used more selective agonists of the three classes of neurokinin (NK) receptors. [Sar9, Met(O2)11]-Substance P (NK1 receptor agonist), [Nle10]-Neurokinin A (NK2 receptor agonist) or [Me-Phe7]-Neurokinin B (NK3 receptor agonist) were all able to block the toxic effect of QUIN on cholinergic activity. These results show that tachykinins provide an important protective support for striatal neurons, suggesting a possible therapeutical benefit in neurodegenerative disorders affecting cholinergic neurons.
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PMID:Tachykinins protect cholinergic neurons from quinolinic acid excitotoxicity in striatal cultures. 897 30

Intrastriatal injection of quinolinate has been proven to be a very useful animal model to study the pathogenesis and treatment of Huntington's disease. To determine whether growth factors of the neurotrophin family are able to prevent the degeneration of striatal projection neurons, cell lines expressing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), or neurotrophin-4/5 (NT-4/5) were grafted in the adult rat striatum before quinolinate injection. Three days after lesioning, ongoing cell death was assessed by in situ detection of DNA fragmentation. In animals grafted with the control cell line, quinolinate injection induced a gradual cell loss that was differentially prevented by intrastriatal grafting of BDNF-, NT-3-, or NT-415-secreting cells. Seven days after lesioning, we characterized striatal projection neurons that were protected by neurotrophins. Quinolinate injection, alone or in combination with the control cell line, induced a selective loss of striatal projection neurons. Grafting of a BDNF-secreting cell line pre-vented the loss of all types of striatal projection neurons analyzed. Glutamic acid decarboxylase 67-, preproenkephalin-, and preprotachykinin A- but not prodynorphin-expressing neurons were protected by grafting of NT-3- or NT-4/5-secreting cells but with less efficiency than the BDNF-secreting cells. Our findings show that neurotrophins are able to promote the survival of striatal projection neurons in vivo and suggest that BDNF might be beneficial for the treatment of striatonigral degenerative disorders, including Huntington's disease.
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PMID:Brain-derived neurotrophic factor, neurotrophin-3, and neurotrophin-4/5 prevent the death of striatal projection neurons in a rodent model of Huntington's disease. 1118 72