Role of apoptotic proteins in ischemic hippocampal damage

Apoptosis, Autophagy, Necrosis and Their Multi Galore Crosstalk in Neurodegeneration

The progression of neurodegenerative disorders is mainly characterized by immense neuron loss and death of glial cells. The mechanisms which are active and regulate neuronal cell death are namely necrosis, necroptosis, autophagy and apoptosis. These death paradigms are governed by a set of molecular determinants that are pivotal in their performance and also exhibit remarkable overlapping functional pathways. A large number of such molecules have been demonstrated to be involved in the switching of death paradigms in various neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, we discuss various molecules and the concurrent crosstalk mediated by them. According to our present knowledge and research in neurodegeneration, molecules like Atg1, Beclin1, LC3, p53, TRB3, RIPK1 play switching roles toggling from one death mechanism to another. In addition, the review also focuses on the exorbitant number of newer molecules with the potential to cross communicate between death pathways and create a complex cell death scenario. This review highlights recent studies on the inter-dependent regulation of cell death paradigms in neurodegeneration, mediated by cross-communication between pathways. This will help in identifying potential targets for therapeutic intervention in neurodegenerative diseases.

Heat shock proteins in the retina: Focus on HSP70 and alpha crystallins in ganglion cell survival

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) belong to a superfamily of stress proteins that are critical constituents of a complex defense mechanism that enhances cell survival under adverse environmental conditions. Cell protective roles of HSPs are related to their chaperone functions, antiapoptotic and antinecrotic effects. HSPs' anti-apoptotic and cytoprotective characteristics, their ability to protect cells from a variety of stressful stimuli, and the possibility of their pharmacological induction in cells under pathological stress make these proteins an attractive therapeutic target for various neurodegenerative diseases; these include Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, prion disease, and others. This review discusses the possible roles of HSPs, particularly HSP70 and small HSPs (alpha A and alpha B crystallins) in enhancing the survival of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in optic neuropathies such as glaucoma, which is characterized by progressive loss of vision caused by degeneration of RGCs and their axons in the optic nerve. Studies in animal models of RGC degeneration induced by ocular hypertension, optic nerve crush and axotomy show that upregulation of HSP70 expression by hyperthermia, zinc, geranyl-geranyl acetone, 17-AAG (a HSP90 inhibitor), or through transfection of retinal cells with AAV2-HSP70 effectively supports the survival of injured RGCs. RGCs survival was also stimulated by overexpression of alpha A and alpha B crystallins. These findings provide support for translating the HSP70- and alpha crystallin-based cell survival strategy into therapy to protect and rescue injured RGCs from degeneration associated with glaucomatous and other optic neuropathies.

Role of acid-sensitive outwardly rectifying anion channels in acidosis-induced cell death in human epithelial cells

Recently, a novel type of anion channel activated by extracellular acidification has been found in a variety of mammalian cell types. However, the role of this acid-sensitive outwardly rectifying (ASOR) anion channel is not known. In human epithelial HeLa cells, reduction in extracellular pH below 5 rapidly activated anion-selective whole-cell currents. The currents exhibited strong outward rectification, activation kinetics at positive potentials, low-field anion selectivity, and sensitivity to 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS) and phloretin. When outside-out patches were exposed to acidic bathing solution, single-channel events of the anion channel could be observed. The unitary conductance was 4.8 pS in the voltage range between -80 and +80 mV. The single-channel activity prominently increased with depolarization and was suppressed by DIDS or phloretin. After 1-h incubation in acidic solution (pH 4.5), a significant population of HeLa cells suffered from necrotic cell injury characterized by stainability with propidium iodide and lack of caspase-3 activation. Upon exposure to acidic solution, HeLa cells exhibited immediate, persistent swelling. Both the necrotic volume increase and cell injury induced by extracellular acidification were inhibited by DIDS or phloretin. Therefore, it is concluded that the ASOR anion channel is involved in the genesis of necrotic cell injury induced by acidosis in human epithelial cells.

G-CSF protects human cerebral hybrid neurons against in vitro ischemia

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) protects neurons against experimental focal cerebral ischemia. However, its neuroprotective effect on human brain is unknown. We sought to determine whether G-CSF can protect the human cerebral neurons in vitro. Human cerebral-neuroblastoma hybrid cell line (A1) was exposed to oxygen and glucose deprivation with or without G-CSF. G-CSF promoted cell survival and decreased cytotoxicity effectively at 25 ng/ml. G-CSF reduced early apoptotic (annexin V+/PI-), and late apoptotic or necrotic (annexin V+/PI+) cells, and decreased active caspase-3 immunoreactivity. G-CSF could protect human cerebral neurons following in vitro ischemia.

Proteolytic mechanisms in necrotic cell death and neurodegeneration

Programmed neuronal cell death is required during development to achieve the accurate wiring of the nervous system. However, genetic or accidental factors can lead to the premature, non-programmed death of neurons during adult life. Inappropriate death of cells in the nervous system is the cause of multiple neurodegenerative disorders. Pathological neuronal death can occur by apoptosis, by necrosis or by a combination of both. Necrotic cell death underlies the pathology of devastating neurological diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders, stroke or trauma. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that bring about necrotic cell death. Proteases play crucial roles in neuron degeneration by exerting both regulatory and catabolic functions. Elevated intracellular calcium is the most ubiquitous feature of neuronal death with the concomitant activation of cysteine calcium-dependent proteases, calpains. Calpains and lysosomal, catabolic aspartyl proteases, play key roles in the necrotic death of neurons. In this review, we survey the recent literature on the role of cysteine and aspartyl proteases in necrosis and neurodegeneration, aiming to delineate common proteolytic mechanisms mediating cellular destruction.

Ca2+-dependent proteases in ischemic neuronal death: a conserved 'calpain-cathepsin cascade' from nematodes to primates

From rodents to primates, transient global brain ischemia is a well known cause of delayed neuronal death of the vulnerable neurons including cornu Ammonis 1 (CA1) pyramidal cells of the hippocampus. Previous reports using the rodent experimental paradigm indicated that apoptosis is a main contributor to such ischemic neuronal death. In primates, however, the detailed molecular mechanism of ischemic neuronal death still remains obscure. Recent data suggest that necrosis rather than apoptosis appear to be the crucial component of the damage to the nervous system during human ischemic injuries and neurodegenerative diseases. Currently, necrotic neuronal death mediated by Ca2+-dependent cysteine proteases, is becoming accepted to underlie the pathology of neurodegenerative conditions from the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to primates. This paper reviews the role of cysteine proteases such as caspase, calpain and cathepsin in order to clarify the mechanism of ischemic neuronal death being triggered by the unspecific digestion of lysosomal proteases.

Regulation of ischemic cell death by the lipoic acid–palladium complex, Poly MVA, in gerbils

Modulation of ischemic cell death can be accomplished via a multitude of mechanisms, such as quenching radical species, providing alternative energy sources, or altering glutamate excitation. Transient cerebral ischemia will induce apoptotic cell death selectively to hippocampal cornus ammon's field 1 of the hippocampus (CA1) pyramidal cells, while neighboring CA3 and dentate neurons are spared. Poly MVA is a dietary supplement based on the nontoxic chemotherapeutic lipoic acid-palladium complex (LAPd). LAPd is a liquid crystal that works in cancer cells by transferring excess electrons from membrane fatty acids to DNA via the mitochondria. Therefore, by its structural nature and action as a redox shuttle, it can both quench radicals as well as provide energy to the mitochondria. To understand the role of LAPd in regulating ischemic cell death, we studied Poly MVA. Male Mongolian gerbils were subjected to 5 min of bilateral carotid artery occlusion under a controlled temperature environment (37.0-38.0 degrees C). Animals were injected with physiological saline or either 30, 50, or 70 mg/kg of Poly MVA every 24 h beginning immediately after the occlusion until being sacrificed on experimental day 4. Damage was evaluated by analyzing nesting behavior and conducting blinded measures of viable CA1 lengths. All Poly MVA treatment dosages significantly (p < 0.05) reduced hippocampal CA1 damage by 72 h. Nesting scores were significantly improved after 30 and 50 mg/kg treatment but not 70 mg/kg. While nesting is usually a very accurate indicator of morphological damage, the 70 mg/kg-treated animals demonstrated excessive energy, thus ignoring the nesting material. While numerous routes offer varying degrees of CA1 neuronal survival after transient global ischemia, only the LAPd complex, which quenches radicals and provides energy to stabilize the mitochondria, offers such significant protection. Thus, the administration of Poly MVA may be a potent neuroprotective agent for victims of transient ischemic attack (TIA), cardiac arrest, anesthetic accidents, or drowning.

Cloning and expression of short interspersed elements B1 and B2 in ischemic brain

Global ischemia causes an extensive cell death 3 days after the ischemia in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, which is preceded by induction of a spectrum of genes with both neuroprotective and detrimental properties. This delayed cell death has been suggested to be mainly caused by programmed cell death. Here we applied differential display to characterize transcripts induced by global ischemia after 1 day in Mongolian gerbils, when the cells in the CA1 region are still viable, but initiating the cell death pathway. One of the cloned transcripts turned out to be a repeat sequence termed SINE B2. We also cloned the other member of the SINE family, SINE B1, and found it also to be slightly induced by ischemia in the CA1 region. The SINE repeat regions are not translated and their role in ischemia may be related the neurons' attempt to cope with decreased translational levels and/or genomic reorganization. Together with the previous data demonstrating the inducibility of the SINE transcripts using in vitro stress models, the present study shows that SINE transcripts are stress-inducible factors in the central nervous system.

Many Mechanisms for Hsp70 Protection From Cerebral Ischemia

Overexpression of inducible Hsp70 has been shown to provide protection from cerebral ischemia both in animal models of stroke and in cell culture models. New work suggests that there are multiple routes of cell death, including apoptotic and necrotic cell death. Hsp70 is known to protect from both necrotic and apoptotic cell death. In addition to the well-studied role of Hsp70 as a molecular chaperone assisting in correct protein folding, several new mechanisms by which Hsp70 can prevent cell death have been described. Hsp70 is now known to regulate apoptotic cell death both directly by interfering with the function of several proteins that induce apoptotic cell death as well as indirectly by increasing levels of the anti-death protein bcl-2. Despite these new insights into the ways in which Hsp70 functions as an anti-death protein, further surprises are likely as we continue to gain insight into the functioning of this multifaceted protein.

Gene transfer of HSP72 protects cornu ammonis 1 region of the hippocampus neurons from global ischemia: influence of Bcl-2

We investigated whether HSV gene transfer of HSP72 in vivo and in vitro: (1) protected cornu ammonis 1 region of the hippocampus neurons from global cerebral ischemia; and (2) affected Bcl-2 expression. HSV vectors expressing HSP72 and beta-galactosidase (reporter) or beta-galactosidase only (control vector) were injected into cornu ammonis 1 region of the hippocampus 15 hours before induction of global cerebral ischemia (n = 10) and sham-operated rats (n = 8). HSP72 vector-treated rats displayed significantly more surviving transfected neurons (X-gal-positive, 31 +/- 8) compared with control vector-treated rats (10 +/- 4) after global cerebral ischemia. Sham-operated rats displayed similar numbers of X-gal-positive neurons (HSP72 vector 18 +/- 8 vs control vector 20 +/- 7). The percentage of beta-galactosidase and Bcl-2 coexpressing neurons in HSP72-treated rats after global cerebral ischemia (84 +/- 4%) was greater than that in control vector-treated rats (58 +/- 9%). The percentage of beta-galactosidase and Bcl-2 coexpressing neurons in sham-operated rats was similar in HSP72 (93 +/- 7%) and in control vector-treated rats (88 +/- 12%). HSP72 vector transfection led to 12 times as much Bcl-2 expression as the control vector in uninjured hippocampal neuronal cultures. In injured (oxygen-glucose deprivation) hippocampal neuron cultures, HSP72 vector transfection led to 2.8 times as much Bcl-2 expression as control vector. We show that HSP72 overexpression protects cornu ammonis 1 region of the hippocampus neurons from global cerebral ischemia, and that this protection may be mediated in part by increased Bcl-2 expression.

Apoptotic activity is increased in brain cortex infarct after hypothermic circulatory arrest in a porcine model

OBJECTIVE

It has been shown that apoptosis contributes to neuronal cell death after ischemia, and we evaluated the degree of apoptotic activity occurring in brain cortex of pigs after hypothermic circulatory arrest (HCA).

DESIGN

Thirty-one pigs underwent 75 min of HCA at 20 degrees C. Histological examination of the brain was performed, and slides of brain cortex were evaluated for apoptotic activity by the TUNEL method.

RESULTS

Ten animals died during the first postoperative day and 21 survived until the seventh postoperative day. Brain cortex infarcts were found in animals that survived 7 days and these were included in this study. The median histopathological score among animals that died on the first postoperative day was 3.0 (range, 2-4), whereas it was 4.0 (range, 2-4) among survivors (p = 0.019). The apoptotic index was particularly high in the area of the infarct, whereas only a few TUNEL-stained cells were observed in noninfarcted areas. The apoptotic index was nil in all pigs that died in the first postoperative period, whereas it was 2.0 (range, 0-6) among the animals that survived until the seventh postoperative day (p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

The apoptotic index was significantly increased in brain cortex infarcts of animals that survived 7 days after HCA, whereas only a few apoptotic cells were observed in noninfarcted areas of these animals as well as in animals that died on the first postoperative day. Further studies are required to elucidate the timing of development of brain infarction after HCA and whether neuroprotective strategies targeting the apoptotic process may mitigate brain damage.

Dantrolene ameliorates delayed cell death and concomitant DNA fragmentation in the rat hippocampal CA1 neurons subjected to mild ischemia

The present study investigated whether dantrolene, which inhibits the Ca(2+) release from the intracellular Ca(2+) store sites, reduced nuclear DNA fragmentation and produced neuronal protection in a model of global forebrain ischemia. Male Wistar rats were subjected to four-vessel occlusion (4VO) for 5 min and then infused continuously with dantrolene or vehicle into the cerebral ventricle for 3 days. The intact rats did not undergo any intervention. The number of viable and DNA nick-end-labeled neurons in the hippocampal CA1 were evaluated 4 days after the ischemia. The number of viable neurons in the dantrolene-treated rats was significantly higher than that in the vehicle-treated rats and lower than that in the intact animals (P<0.01 and <0.05, respectively). The number of DNA nick-end-labeled nuclei was significantly lower in dantrolene-treated rats compared with the vehicle-treated animals (P<0.0001). No nick-end labeling was observed in the intact animals. A linear correlation was found between the number of viable cells and nick-end labeled nuclei in the CA1 (r=0.91, P<0.0001). These results suggest that the postischemic intraventricular dantrolene is effective in precluding neuronal death and concomitant nuclear DNA fragmentation following transient global ischemia.

Acidosis induces necrosis and apoptosis of cultured hippocampal neurons

Acidosis, hypoxia, and hypoglycemia rapidly and transiently appear after reduction of cerebral blood flow. Acidosis also accompanies head trauma and subarachnoid hemorrhage. These insults result in necrotic and apoptotic loss of neurons. We previously demonstrated that transient acidification of intracellular pH from 7.3 to 6.5 induces delayed neuronal loss in cultured hippocampal slices (49). We now report that acidosis induced both necrotic and apoptotic loss of neurons. Necrosis and apoptosis were distinguished temporally and pharmacologically. Necrosis appeared rapidly and was dose dependent with the duration of the acidosis treatment. Apoptosis was delayed with maximal number of apoptotic cells seen with a 30-min acidosis treatment. Apoptotic neuronal loss was accompanied by DNA fragmentation and was blocked by inhibitors of protein and RNA synthesis, ectopic expression of the anti-apoptotic gene bcl-2, or an inhibitor of caspases, proteases known to be activated during apoptosis. Necrotic neuronal loss was unaffected by these treatments. Hypothermia, a treatment known to attenuate neuronal loss following a variety of insults, blocked both acidosis-induced necrosis and apoptosis. These results indicate that acidosis is neurotoxic in vitro and suggest that acidosis contributes to both necrotic and apoptotic neuronal loss in vivo.

Neuronal death in brain infarcts in man

The mechanism of neuronal death in brain ischaemia remains unclear. Morphology, terminal transferase-mediated dUTP-digoxigenin nick end-labelling (TUNEL) and immunohistochemistry for the pro-apoptotic enzyme caspase-3 (CASP3), for its substrates poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and the DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKCS) and for poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR), an end-product of PARP activity, were used to investigate neuronal death in brain infarcts from 15 men and 20 women, aged 46-95 years. The infarcts varied in age from 18 h to several months. Neuronal death was characterized morphologically by cell shrinkage, cytoplasmic hypereosinophilia and moderate nuclear pyknosis with later chromatin dispersal and disintegration, but not features of apoptosis. Occasional apoptotic bodies were seen but these appeared to be related to inflammatory cells, endothelial cells and occasional glia, including satellite cells. Neurones within infarcts showed strong nuclear and cytoplasmic labelling for CASP3 during the first 2 days after infarction. Neuronal DNA-PKCS, PARP and poly(ADP-ribose) immunoreactivity was demonstrable in scattered neurones in and adjacent to infarcts for 18-24 h but thereafter declined to below detectable levels in most cases. TUNEL labelled cells towards the edge of the infarcts, particularly at 2-4 days, but most of the labelling could be prevented by preincubation of the sections in diethyl pyrocarbonate to inactivate endogenous nucleases. Between 3 days and 3 weeks, CASP3 and DNA-PKCS were detected in proliferating capillaries and CASP3, PARP and poly(ADP-ribose) in infiltrating macrophages. Our findings indicate that neuronal death in human brain infarcts has some of the early biochemical features of programmed cell death, with upregulation of CASP3 and rapid disappearance of DNA-PKCS and PARP. However, the morphological changes are not those of apoptosis, the DNA cleavage occurs relatively late, and some of the TUNEL is probably mediated by the release of endogenous endonucleases during protease or microwave pretreatment of the damaged tissue.

Translocation of cytochrome c following transient global ischemia in the gerbil

Five minutes of transient global ischemia results in the delayed neuronal death of CA1 hippocampal cells. These pyramidal cells follow an apoptotic cell death cascade of events, initiated by the activation of the bcl-2 family of regulatory proteins and ending with caspase activation. The mitochondrial protein cytochrome c has been demonstrated to activate the precursor forms of caspase to their active forms. This is under the control of the bcl-2 protein family. The present study examined the accumulation of cytosolic cytochrome c following transient ischemia. At 72 h post-carotid artery occlusion there was a translocation of cytochrome c from the mitochondria to the cytoplasm just prior to the onset of cell death. By 7 days, when CA1 cell death is complete, there was no longer a significant difference between control and ischemic tissue. Therefore, cytochrome c appears to be a vital component in the apoptotic sequence of events following global ischemia.