Endothelin receptors in kainic acid-induced neural lesions of rat brain

Sovateltide Mediated Endothelin B Receptors Agonism and Curbing Neurological Disorders

Neurological/neurovascular disorders constitute the leading cause of disability and the second leading cause of death globally. Major neurological/neurovascular disorders or diseases include cerebral stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injury, neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, and others. Their pathophysiology is considered highly complex and is the main obstacle in developing any drugs for these diseases. In this review, we have described the endothelin system, its involvement in neurovascular disorders, the importance of endothelin B receptors (ETBRs) as a novel potential drug target, and its agonism by IRL-1620 (INN—sovateltide), which we are developing as a drug candidate for treating the above-mentioned neurological disorders/diseases. In addition, we have highlighted the results of our preclinical and clinical studies related to these diseases. The phase I safety and tolerability study of sovateltide has shown it as a safe and tolerable compound at therapeutic dosages. Furthermore, preclinical and clinical phase II studies have demonstrated the efficacy of sovateltide in treating acute ischemic stroke. It is under development as a first-in-class drug. In addition, efficacy studies in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), acute spinal cord injury, and neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) are ongoing. Successful completion of these studies will validate that ETBRs signaling can be an important target in developing drugs to treat neurological/neurovascular diseases.

Sovateltide (IRL-1620) affects neuronal progenitors and prevents cerebral tissue damage after ischemic stroke

Stimulation of endothelin B receptors by its agonist IRL-1620 (INN, sovateltide) provides neuroprotection and neurological and motor function improvement following cerebral ischemia. We investigated the effect of sovateltide on stem and progenitor cells mediated neural regeneration and its effect on the cerebral tissue repair and restoration of neurological and motor function. Sovateltide (5 μg/kg) was injected intravenously in permanent middle cerebral artery occluded (MCAO) rats at 4, 6, and 8 h at days 0, 3, and 6. Neurological and motor function tests were carried out pre-MCAO and at day 7 post-MCAO. At day 7, significantly reduced expression of neuronal differentiation markers HuC/HuD and NeuroD1 was seen in MCAO + vehicle than sham rats. Sovateltide treatment upregulated HuC/HuD and NeuroD1 compared to MCAO + vehicle and their expression was similar to sham. Expression of stem cell markers Oct 4 and Sox 2 was similar in rats of all of the groups. Significantly reduced infarct volume and DNA damage with recovery of neurological and motor function was observed in sovateltide-treated MCAO rats. These results indicate that sovateltide initiates a regenerative response by promoting differentiation of neuronal progenitors and maintaining stem cells in an equilibrium following cerebral ischemic stroke.

Immunohistochemical demonstration of increased prostaglandin F₂α levels in the rat hippocampus following kainic acid-induced seizures

Prostaglandin (PG) F(2α) is one of the major prostanoids biosynthesized by cyclooxygenases (COXs) from arachidonic acid. Although it has been reported that there is a selective surge in PGF(2α) production in the hippocampus during kainic acid (KA)-induced seizure activity, the precise intra-hippocampal distribution of PGF(2α) has not been elucidated due to the paucity of effective histological techniques for detecting PGs in tissues. We investigated the tissue distribution of PGF(2α) in the rat hippocampus 30 min after KA injection by developing fixation and immunohistological-staining methods. To detect PGF(2α) directly on histological sections, we used systemic perfusion fixation with water-soluble carbodiimide fixative, followed by immersion of the brains in Zamboni's fixative. We then performed immunofluorescence staining with anti-PGF(2α) antibody, with negative control experiments used to confirm the staining specificity. Definitive immunolabeling for PGF(2α) was evident most markedly in pyramidal cells of the hippocampal cornu Ammonis (CA) 3 sector and neurons of the hilus in KA-treated rats. Immunolabeling for PGF(2α) was also evident in granule cells of the dentate gyrus. Double immunfluorescence staining revealed that PGF(2α)-immunopositive neurons expressed cytosolic phospholipases A(2), COX-2, and FP receptor. These results suggest that the major source of PGF(2α) production immediately after KA injection was neurons of the hippocampal CA3 sector, hilus and dentate gyrus. These neurons exert PGF(2α)-mediated functions via FP receptors in an autocrine/paracrine manner and may play pathophysiological roles in the acute phase (30 min) of excitotoxicity.

Role of endothelins as mediators of injury-induced alterations of glial glutamate turnover

Astroglia terminate glutamatergic neurotransmission and prevent excitotoxic extracellular glutamate concentration by clearing synaptically released glutamate through the high-affinity, sodium-dependent glutamate transporters GLT-1 and GLAST. Many brain injures are associated with the disturbed expression of glial glutamate transporters and a subsequent increase of extracellular glutamate to neurotoxic levels. We have now followed up initial hints pointing to endothelins, a family of injury-regulated peptides, as mediators of this injury-induced loss of glial glutamate transporter expression. We observed that, in line with such a role, endothelins not only act as potent inhibitors of basal and exogenously (dbcAMP)-induced expression of GLT-1 in cortical astrocytes as shown before, but likewise inhibit expression of GLT-1 or GLAST in astrocytes cultured from the diencephalon, mesencephalon, cerebellum, and spinal cord. We further demonstrate that endothelins equally inhibit GLT-1 expression in cortical slice cultures, a culture system closely resembling the in vivo situation. Although brain injuries are usually associated with an increase in the expression of the glutamate-converting enzyme glutamine synthetase, cultured cortical astrocytes maintained with endothelins showed an almost complete loss of glutamine synthetase. Interestingly, the inhibitory effects of endothelins on the expression of glutamine synthetase, but not of glutamate transporters, was overridden by high extracellular glutamate, indicating that the primarily inhibitory action of endothelins on the various components of glial glutamate turnover dissociates in the injured brain.

Endothelin-1 regulates astrocyte proliferation and reactive gliosis via a JNK/c-Jun signaling pathway

Reactive gliosis is characterized by enhanced glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression, cellular hypertrophy, and astrocyte proliferation. The cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this process are still largely undefined. We investigated the role of endothelin-1 (ET-1) in reactive gliosis in corpus callosum after lysolecithin (LPC)-induced focal demyelination and in cultured astrocytes. We show that ET-1 levels are upregulated in demyelinated lesions within 5 d after LPC injection, together with enhanced astrocyte proliferation, GFAP expression, and JNK phosphorylation. Infusion of the pan-ET-receptor (ET-R) antagonist Bosentan or the selective ET(B)-R antagonist BQ788 into the corpus callosum prevented postlesion astrocyte proliferation and JNK phosphorylation. In cultured astrocytes, ET-1-induced activation of ET(B)-Rs promotes a reactive phenotype by enhancing both GFAP expression and astrocyte proliferation. In the same cells, ET-1 activates both JNK and p38MAPK pathways, and induces c-Jun expression at the mRNA and protein levels. By using selective pharmacological inhibitors, we also provide evidence that ET-1 induces astrocyte proliferation and GFAP expression through activation of ERK- and JNK-dependent pathways, consistent with the previous observation of ET-1-induced activation of ERK (Schinelli et al., 2001). Finally, we show by gain and loss of function that increased c-Jun expression enhances the proliferative response of astrocytes to ET-1, whereas c-jun siRNA prevents ET-1-induced cell proliferation. Our results indicate that the effects of ET-1 on astrocyte proliferation depend on c-Jun induction and activation through ERK- and JNK-dependent pathways, and suggest that ET-R-associated pathways might represent important targets to control reactive gliosis.

Gap junctional control of glial glutamate transporter expression

The uptake of glutamate into astroglia is the predominant mechanism to terminate glutamatergic neurotransmission and to prevent neurotoxic extracellular glutamate concentrations. Here, we show that uncoupling cultured cortical astrocytes with the gap junction blocker, propofol, or the Cx43 mimetic peptide, Gap27, inhibits the expression of GLT-1, the major glutamate transporter subtype in the cortex. The dependence of GLT-1 expression on gap junctions was further confirmed by the use of astrocytes in which either the expression of Cx43, the major astrocytic gap junction protein, was inhibited by RNA interference or which were derived from animals carrying an astrocyte-specific deletion of the Cx43 gene. In both cases, reduced astrocytic coupling was associated with a pronounced decline in GLT-1 expression. Finally, a luciferase reporter gene assay demonstrated that blockade of gap junctions/connexins suppressed transcriptional activity of GLT-1 promoter. These observations unravel a previously unrecognized role of gap junctions in the control of glial glutamate transport.

Endothelins negatively regulate glial glutamate transporter expression

Glutamate is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system which at high extracellular levels leads to neuronal over-stimulation and subsequent excitotoxic neuronal cell death. Both the termination of glutamatergic neurotransmission and the prevention of neurotoxic extracellular glutamate concentrations are predominantly achieved by the uptake of extracellular glutamate into astroglia through the high-affinity glutamate transporters, excitatory amino acid transporter-2/glutamate transporter-1 (EAAT-2/GLT-1) and EAAT-1/glutamate aspartate transporter (GLAST). Although several injury-induced growth factors such as epidermal growth factor (EGF) and transforming growth factor alpha (TGFalpha) potently stimulate the expression of glutamate transporters in cultured astroglia, GLT-1 and/or GLAST expression temporarily decreases during acute brain injuries eventually contributing to secondary neuronal cell death. We now demonstrate that the stimulatory influences of these injury-regulated growth factors are overridden by endothelins (ETs), a family of peptides also upregulated in the injured brain. Exposure of cultured cortical astroglia to ET-1, ET-2, and ET-3 resulted in a major loss of basal glutamate transporter expression after 72 hours and the complete prevention of the known stimulatory influences of dibutyryl cyclic (dbc)AMP, pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), EGF, and TGFalpha on both GLT-1 and GLAST expression. With all ET isoforms, the inhibitory effects were detectable with similar low nanomolar concentrations and persisted in endothelin B-receptor deficient astroglia, suggesting that the inhibitory action is equally induced by endothelin A and B receptors. In astroglial cultures maintained with endothelins alone or in combination with PACAP, the inhibitory action was remarkably long-lasting and was still detectable after 7 days. In apparent contrast, glutamate transporter expression partially recovered between days 5 and 7 in cultures maintained with a combination of ETs and the injury-regulated growth factors EGF or TGFalpha. These findings point to ETs as major mediators of injury-dependent down-regulation of glial glutamate transporters and subsequent glutamate-induced brain damage.

Endothelin receptor expression in the normal and injured spinal cord: potential involvement in injury-induced ischemia and gliosis

The endothelins (ETs) are a family of peptides that exert their biological effects via two distinct receptors, the endothelin A receptor (ET(A)R) and the endothelin B receptor (ET(B)R). To more clearly define the potential actions of ETs following spinal cord injury, we used immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy to examine the protein expression of ET(A)R and ET(B)R in the normal and injured rat spinal cord. In the normal spinal cord, ET(A)R immunoreactivity (IR) is expressed by vascular smooth muscle cells and a subpopulation of primary afferent nerve fibers. ET(B)R-IR is expressed primarily by radial glia, a small population of gray and white matter astrocytes, ependymal cells, vascular endothelial cells, and to a lesser extent in smooth muscle cells. Fourteen days following compression injury to the spinal cord, there was a significant upregulation in both the immunoexpression and number of astrocytes expressing the ET(B)R in both gray and white matter and a near disappearance of ET(B)R-IR in ependymal cells and ET(A)R-IR in primary afferent fibers. Conversely, the vascular expression of ET(A)R and ET(B)R did not appear to change. As spinal cord injury has been shown to induce an immediate increase in plasma ET levels and a sustained increase in tissue ET levels, ETs would be expected to induce an initial marked vasoconstriction via activation of vascular ET(A)R/ET(B)R and then days later a glial hypertrophy via activation of the ET(B)R expressed by astrocytes. Strategies aimed at blocking vascular ET(A)R/ET(B)R and astrocyte ET(B)Rs following spinal cord injury may reduce the resulting ischemia and astrogliosis and in doing so increase neuronal survival, regeneration, and function.

Endothelin B receptors are expressed by astrocytes and regulate astrocyte hypertrophy in the normal and injured CNS

The ability of mammalian central nervous system (CNS) neurons to survive and/or regenerate following injury is influenced by surrounding glial cells. To identify the factors that control glial cell function following CNS injury, we have focused on the endothelin B receptor (ET(B)R), which we show is expressed by the majority of astrocytes that are immunoreactive for glial acid fibrillary protein (GFAP) in both the normal and crushed rabbit optic nerve. Optic nerve crush induces a marked increase in ET(B)R and GFAP immunoreactivity (IR) without inducing a significant increase in the number of GFAP-IR astrocytes, suggesting that the crush-induced astrogliosis is due primarily to astrocyte hypertrophy. To define the role that endothelins play in driving this astrogliosis, artificial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), ET-1 (an ET(A)R and ET(B)R agonist), or Bosentan (a mixed ET(A)R and ET(B)R antagonist) were infused via osmotic minipumps into noninjured and crushed optic nerves for 14 days. Infusion of ET-1 induced a hypertrophy of ET(B)R/GFAP-IR astrocytes in the normal optic nerve, with no additional hypertrophy in the crushed nerve, whereas infusion of Bosentan induced a significant decrease in the hypertrophy of ET(B)R/GFAP-IR astrocytes in the crushed but not in the normal optic nerve. These data suggest that pharmacological blockade of astrocyte ET(B)R receptors following CNS injury modulates glial scar formation and may provide a more permissive substrate for neuronal survival and regeneration.

Sequential and opposite regulation of two outward K(+) currents by ET-1 in cultured striatal astrocytes

In the brain, astrocytes represent a major target for endothelins (ETs), a family of peptides that can be released by several cell types and that have potent and multiple effects on astrocytic functions. Four types of K(+) currents (I(K)) were detected in various proportions by patch-clamp recordings of cultured striatal astrocytes, including the A-type I(K), the inwardly rectifying I(K IR), the Ca(2+)-dependent I(K) (I(K Ca)), and the delayed-rectified I(K) (I(K DR)). Variations in the shape of current-voltage relationships were related mainly to differences in the proportion of these currents. ET-1 was found to regulate with opposite effects the two more frequently recorded outward K(+) currents in striatal astrocytes. Indeed, this peptide induced an initial activation of I(K Ca) (composed of SK and BK channels) and a delayed long-lasting inhibition of I(K DR). In current-clamp recordings, the activation of I(K Ca) correlated with a transient hyperpolarization, whereas the inhibition of I(K DR) correlated with a sustained depolarization. These ET-1-induced sequential changes in membrane potential in astrocytes may be important for the regulation of voltage gradients in astrocytic networks and the maintenance of K(+) homeostasis in the brain microenvironment.

Endothelin-converting enzymes and endothelin receptor B messenger RNAs are expressed in different neural cell species and these messenger RNAs are coordinately induced in neurons and astrocytes respectively following nerve injury

There is some evidence that endothelins may be a signal mediator between neuronal and glial cells, at least in some regions of the brain. To evaluate this possibility, the localization of messenger RNAs for endothelin-converting enzymes and endothelin receptor B in the rat brain were examined using in situ hybridization histochemistry. The messenger RNAs for endothelin-converting enzyme-1 and endothelin-converting enzyme-2 were expressed mainly in neurons located in various brain regions, whereas the messenger RNA for endothelin receptor B was mainly localized in the astrocytes located throughout the brainstem, Bergmann glia, choroid plexus and ependymal cells. The localization patterns of endothelin-converting enzyme and endothelin receptor B messenger RNAs were strikingly different. For instance, in the cerebellum, endothelin-converting enzyme-1 messenger RNA was localized in Purkinje cells, and endothelin-converting enzyme-2 mRNA was expressed in Purkinje cells and granule cells. On the other hand, endothelin receptor B messenger RNA was expressed in Bergmann glia and the astrocytes located in the granule cell layer. This suggests that final cleavages of big endothelins are performed on neuronal cells, and the major target of the processed endothelins could be astrocytes, which express endothelin receptor B most abundantly in the brain. Since evidence that endothelin is implicated in brain injury has also accumulated, we examined whether the expressions of endothelin-converting enzymes and endothelin receptor B are regulated by nerve injury. Following hypoglossal nerve injury, expression of messenger RNA for endothelin-converting enzymes-1 and -2 and endothelin receptor B was enhanced in the injured motor neurons and astrocytes respectively. The up-regulation of these messenger RNAs was also confirmed by a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction based strategyThese results lead us to suggest that endothelin can be an inducible intercellular mediator between injured neurons and astrocytes in response to nerve injury.

Distinct pharmacological properties of ET-1 and ET-3 on astroglial gap junctions and Ca(2+) signaling

Astrocytes represent a major target for endothelins (ETs), a family of peptides that have potent and multiple effects on signal transduction pathways and can be released by several cell types in the brain. In the present study we have investigated the involvement of different ET receptor subtypes on intercellular dye diffusion, intracellular Ca(2+) homeostasis, and intercellular Ca(2+) signaling in cultured rat astrocytes from hippocampus and striatum. Depending on the ET concentration and the receptor involved, ET-1- and ET-3-induced intracellular Ca(2+) increases with different response patterns. Both ET-1 and ET-3 are powerful inhibitors of gap junctional permeability and intercellular Ca(2+) signaling. The nonselective ET receptor agonist sarafotoxin S6b and the ET(B) receptor-selective agonist IRL 1620 mimicked these inhibitions. The ET-3 effects were only marginally affected by an ET(A) receptor antagonist but completely blocked by an ET(B) receptor antagonist. However, the ET-1-induced inhibition of gap junctional dye transfer and intercellular Ca(2+) signaling was only marginally blocked by ET(A) or ET(B) receptor-selective antagonists but fully prevented when these antagonists were applied together. The ET-induced inhibition of gap junction permeability and intercellular Ca(2+) signaling indicates that important changes in the function of astroglial communication might occur when the level of ETs in the brain is increased.

Rat peritoneal macrophages express endothelin ET(B) but not endothelin ET(A) receptors

The properties of endothelin receptors on rat peritoneal macrophages were examined in in vitro receptor autoradiographic binding experiments and in a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) study. Dense and specific [(125)I]endothelin-1 binding sites were detected on the macrophages. [(125)I]Tyr13-Suc-[Glu9,Ala(11,15)]-endothelin-1(8-21) , IRL1620, a selective endothelin ET(B) receptor ligand, but not [(125)I](N-[(hexahydro-1-azepinyl)carbonyl])L-Leu(1-Me)D-Trp-D-Tyr , PD151242, a selective endothelin ET(A) receptor ligand, specifically bound to rat macrophages (Kd = 0.75 +/- 0.19 nM, Bmax = 7.77 +/- 2.50 fmol/mg). RT-PCR experiments also showed the expression of endothelin ET(B) receptor mRNA, but not endothelin ET(A) receptor mRNA, in these macrophages. These results indicate that rat peritoneal macrophages apparently express the endothelin ET(B) receptor but not the endothelin ET(A) receptor.