Hypoxic tolerance induction in rat brain slices following 3-nitropropionic acid pretreatment as revealed by dynamic changes in glucose metabolism

Molecular physiology of preconditioning-induced brain tolerance to ischemia

Ischemic tolerance describes the adaptive biological response of cells and organs that is initiated by preconditioning (i.e., exposure to stressor of mild severity) and the associated period during which their resistance to ischemia is markedly increased. This topic is attracting much attention because preconditioning-induced ischemic tolerance is an effective experimental probe to understand how the brain protects itself. This review is focused on the molecular and related functional changes that are associated with, and may contribute to, brain ischemic tolerance. When the tolerant brain is subjected to ischemia, the resulting insult severity (i.e., residual blood flow, disruption of cellular transmembrane gradients) appears to be the same as in the naive brain, but the ensuing lesion is substantially reduced. This suggests that the adaptive changes in the tolerant brain may be primarily directed against postischemic and delayed processes that contribute to ischemic damage, but adaptive changes that are beneficial during the subsequent test insult cannot be ruled out. It has become clear that multiple effectors contribute to ischemic tolerance, including: 1) activation of fundamental cellular defense mechanisms such as antioxidant systems, heat shock proteins, and cell death/survival determinants; 2) responses at tissue level, especially reduced inflammatory responsiveness; and 3) a shift of the neuronal excitatory/inhibitory balance toward inhibition. Accordingly, an improved knowledge of preconditioning/ischemic tolerance should help us to identify neuroprotective strategies that are similar in nature to combination therapy, hence potentially capable of suppressing the multiple, parallel pathophysiological events that cause ischemic brain damage.

Ischaemic preconditioning: therapeutic implications for stroke?

Ischaemic preconditioning (IPC), also known as ischaemic tolerance (IT), is a phenomenon whereby tissue is exposed to a brief, sublethal period of ischaemia, which activates endogenous protective mechanisms, thereby reducing cellular injury that may be caused by subsequent lethal ischaemic events. The first description of this phenomenon was in the heart, which was reported by Murry and co-workers in 1986. Subsequent studies demonstrated IPC in lung, kidney and liver tissue, whereas more recent studies have concentrated on the brain. The cellular mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of IPC remain largely unknown. This phenomenon, which has been demonstrated by using various injury paradigms in both cultured neurons and animal brain tissue, may be utilised to identify and characterise therapeutic targets for small-molecule, antibody, or protein intervention. This review will examine the experimental evidence demonstrating the phenomenon termed IPC in models of cerebral ischaemia, the cellular mechanisms that may be involved and the therapeutic implications of these findings.

Induction of hypoxia inducible factor-1 attenuates metabolic insults induced by 3-nitropropionic acid in rat C6 glioma cells

Compromised mitochondrial function in neurons and glia has been observed in several neurodegenerative disorders, including Huntington's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Chemical/hypoxic preconditioning may afford protection against subsequently more severe oxidative damages. In this study, we tested whether induction of hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) may exert cytoprotective effects against mitochondrial dysfunction caused by 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP) in glial cells. Preconditioning of C6 astroglial cells with cobalt chloride, mimosine (MIM), and desferrioxamine (DFO), all of which known to activate HIF-1, significantly attenuated cytotoxicity induced by 3-NP, an irreversible inhibitor of mitochondrial complex II, and antimycin A, a mitochondrial complex III inhibitor. Application of cadmium chloride capable of neutralizing cobalt-induced HIF-1 activation, HIF-specific oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) decoy, and antisense phosphorothioate ODN against HIF-1alpha abolished the protective effect mediated by preconditioning with cobalt chloride. Preloading of C6 cells with SN50, PD98059, or SB202190, the respective inhibitor of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), p44/p42 extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), failed to affect the protection afforded by cobalt preconditioning. Taken together, these results suggest that HIF-1 induction secondary to preconditioning with cobalt chloride or iron chelators may mediate the protective effects against metabolic insult induced by the mitochondrial inhibitor 3-NP in C6 astroglial cells.

Automated kinetic analysis of FDG uptake in living rat brain slices from dynamic positron autoradiography

Changes in regional cerebral glucose metabolism were investigated for varying levels of tissue oxygenation using a dynamic positron autoradiography technique. While incubating fresh rat brain slices with [18F]FDG in an oxygenated solution, serial images of the tissue slices were obtained over a time period of up to 300 min and archived onto over 20 phosphorous imaging plate exposures. In order to properly create time activity curves of the uptake levels, images of the individual tissue samples were automatically located, digitally extracted, and registered with the later images of the same tissue samples. After applying image processing techniques for aligning tissue sample images, time activity curves were extracted for individual substructures in the rat brain and quantitative results were reported using Patlak plots. Since the levels of oxygenation can be controlled for these experiments, [18F]FDG uptakes can be reported representing states of hypoxia, pseudoischemia, and reoxygenation. The image processing techniques developed for this application have enabled more experiments and tissue samples to be acquired and analyzed than would otherwise be possible using manual ROI techniques. The objective spatial registration of tissue samples and automated extraction of data has increased the analysis accuracy and decreased the operator error associated with the interactive handling of the image data. This supports improved kinetic modeling of FDG uptake in animal studies, and can be used for more accurate dosimetry calculations in humans.