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Modgil S, Bammidi S, Banik A, Sharma VL, Anand A. Alpha lipoic acid attenuates the long-term effects of lead exposure in retinal ischemic injury mouse model. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2019; 26:15548-15558. [PMID: 30945075 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-04700-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2018] [Accepted: 02/25/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Lead (Pb) exposure is reported to be unsafe for humans. There have been several studies documenting acute and chronic Pb toxicity on the organ systems. New studies suggest that early-life exposure to such environmental toxins may increase the susceptibility to late-onset degenerative disorders. We aimed to examine the long-term effects of early-life postnatal exposure of Pb on retinal degeneration. Pb exposure (200 ppm) was provided either at postnatal day 1 through lactation (early-life exposure) or at 7th week of age (adulthood exposure) directly through drinking water for 20 days. The Pb-treated mice were followed till 20 weeks of age. At 20th week, ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury was induced in these mice by pterygopalatine artery ligation. Further, alpha lipoic acid (ALA) was administered to examine its neuroprotective effects against retinal damage. Histological and molecular analysis revealed that Pb-treated mice had greater retinal damage after I/R injury as compared to untreated or ALA treated mice, suggesting that ALA protects the early-life Pb exposure and its consequent impact on later life. The elevated levels of glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and reduced levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) upon ALA pre-treatment suggest that it probably exerts anti-inflammatory effects via upregulation of neurotrophic factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shweta Modgil
- Neuroscience Research Lab, Department of Neurology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
- Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India
| | - Sridhar Bammidi
- Neuroscience Research Lab, Department of Neurology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
| | - Avijit Banik
- Department of Pharmacology, Emory University School of Medicine, Rollins Research Center, Atlanta, USA
| | | | - Akshay Anand
- Neuroscience Research Lab, Department of Neurology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
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Barbon S, Stocco E, Negro A, Dalzoppo D, Borgio L, Rajendran S, Grandi F, Porzionato A, Macchi V, De Caro R, Parnigotto PP, Grandi C. In vitro assessment of TAT - Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor therapeutic potential for peripheral nerve regeneration. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 2016; 309:121-8. [PMID: 27597256 DOI: 10.1016/j.taap.2016.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2016] [Revised: 08/31/2016] [Accepted: 09/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
In regenerative neurobiology, Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor (CNTF) is raising high interest as a multifunctional neurocytokine, playing a key role in the regeneration of injured peripheral nerves. Despite its promising trophic and regulatory activity, its clinical application is limited by the onset of severe side effects, due to the lack of efficient intracellular trafficking after administration. In this study, recombinant CNTF linked to the transactivator transduction domain (TAT) was investigated in vitro and found to be an optimized fusion protein which preserves neurotrophic activity, besides enhancing cellular uptake for therapeutic advantage. Moreover, a compelling protein delivery method was defined, in the future perspective of improving nerve regeneration strategies. Following determination of TAT-CNTF molecular weight and concentration, its specific effect on neural SH-SY5Y and PC12 cultures was assessed. Cell proliferation assay demonstrated that the fusion protein triggers PC12 cell growth within 6h of stimulation. At the same time, the activation of signal transduction pathway and enhancement of cellular trafficking were found to be accomplished in both neural cell lines after specific treatment with TAT-CNTF. Finally, the recombinant growth factor was successfully loaded on oxidized polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) scaffolds, and more efficiently released when polymer oxidation rate increased. Taken together, our results highlight that the TAT domain addiction to the protein sequence preserves CNTF specific neurotrophic activity in vitro, besides improving cellular uptake. Moreover, oxidized PVA could represent an ideal biomaterial for the development of nerve conduits loaded with the fusion protein to be delivered to the site of nerve injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Barbon
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padua, Italy; Foundation for Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Tissue Engineering and Signaling (TES) ONLUS, Via De Sanctis 10, Caselle di Selvazzano Dentro, 35030 Padua, Italy.
| | - Elena Stocco
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padua, Italy; Foundation for Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Tissue Engineering and Signaling (TES) ONLUS, Via De Sanctis 10, Caselle di Selvazzano Dentro, 35030 Padua, Italy.
| | - Alessandro Negro
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Colombo 3, 35121 Padua, Italy.
| | - Daniele Dalzoppo
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padua, Italy.
| | - Luca Borgio
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padua, Italy.
| | - Senthilkumar Rajendran
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padua, Italy.
| | - Francesca Grandi
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Pediatric Surgery, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 3, 35121 Padua, Italy.
| | - Andrea Porzionato
- Section of Human Anatomy, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padua, Via Gabelli 65, 35121 Padua, Italy.
| | - Veronica Macchi
- Section of Human Anatomy, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padua, Via Gabelli 65, 35121 Padua, Italy.
| | - Raffaele De Caro
- Section of Human Anatomy, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padua, Via Gabelli 65, 35121 Padua, Italy.
| | - Pier Paolo Parnigotto
- Foundation for Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Tissue Engineering and Signaling (TES) ONLUS, Via De Sanctis 10, Caselle di Selvazzano Dentro, 35030 Padua, Italy.
| | - Claudio Grandi
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padua, Italy.
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Kazim SF, Cardenas-Aguayo MDC, Arif M, Blanchard J, Fayyaz F, Grundke-Iqbal I, Iqbal K. Sera from children with autism induce autistic features which can be rescued with a CNTF small peptide mimetic in rats. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0118627. [PMID: 25769033 PMCID: PMC4359103 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2014] [Accepted: 01/21/2015] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized clinically by impairments in social interaction and verbal and non-verbal communication skills as well as restricted interests and repetitive behavior. It has been hypothesized that altered brain environment including an imbalance in neurotrophic support during early development contributes to the pathophysiology of autism. Here we report that sera from children with autism which exhibited abnormal levels of various neurotrophic factors induced cell death and oxidative stress in mouse primary cultured cortical neurons. The effects of sera from autistic children were rescued by pre-treatment with a ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) small peptide mimetic, Peptide 6 (P6), which was previously shown to exert its neuroprotective effect by modulating CNTF/JAK/STAT pathway and LIF signaling and by enhancing brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression. Similar neurotoxic effects and neuroinflammation were observed in young Wistar rats injected intracerebroventricularly with autism sera within hours after birth. The autism sera injected rats demonstrated developmental delay and deficits in social communication, interaction, and novelty. Both the neurobiological changes and the behavioral autistic phenotype were ameliorated by P6 treatment. These findings implicate the involvement of neurotrophic imbalance during early brain development in the pathophysiology of autism and a proof of principle of P6 as a potential therapeutic strategy for autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syed Faraz Kazim
- Inge Grundke-Iqbal Research Floor, Department of Neurochemistry, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (NYSIBR), Staten Island, New York, United States of America
- Neural and Behavioral Science Graduate Program, State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America
- SUNY Downstate/NYSIBR Center for Developmental Neuroscience (CDN), Staten Island, New York, United States of America
| | - Maria del Carmen Cardenas-Aguayo
- Inge Grundke-Iqbal Research Floor, Department of Neurochemistry, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (NYSIBR), Staten Island, New York, United States of America
| | - Mohammad Arif
- Inge Grundke-Iqbal Research Floor, Department of Neurochemistry, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (NYSIBR), Staten Island, New York, United States of America
| | - Julie Blanchard
- Inge Grundke-Iqbal Research Floor, Department of Neurochemistry, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (NYSIBR), Staten Island, New York, United States of America
| | - Fatima Fayyaz
- Inge Grundke-Iqbal Research Floor, Department of Neurochemistry, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (NYSIBR), Staten Island, New York, United States of America
| | - Inge Grundke-Iqbal
- Inge Grundke-Iqbal Research Floor, Department of Neurochemistry, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (NYSIBR), Staten Island, New York, United States of America
| | - Khalid Iqbal
- Inge Grundke-Iqbal Research Floor, Department of Neurochemistry, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (NYSIBR), Staten Island, New York, United States of America
- SUNY Downstate/NYSIBR Center for Developmental Neuroscience (CDN), Staten Island, New York, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Wylie RG, Ahsan S, Aizawa Y, Maxwell KL, Morshead CM, Shoichet MS. Spatially controlled simultaneous patterning of multiple growth factors in three-dimensional hydrogels. Nat Mater 2011; 10:799-806. [PMID: 21874004 DOI: 10.1038/nmat3101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 350] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2010] [Accepted: 07/18/2011] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) protein-patterned scaffolds provide a more biomimetic environment for cell culture than traditional two-dimensional surfaces, but simultaneous 3D protein patterning has proved difficult. We developed a method to spatially control the immobilization of different growth factors in distinct volumes in 3D hydrogels, and to specifically guide differentiation of stem/progenitor cells therein. Stem-cell differentiation factors sonic hedgehog (SHH) and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) were simultaneously immobilized using orthogonal physical binding pairs, barnase-barstar and streptavidin-biotin, respectively. Barnase and streptavidin were sequentially immobilized using two-photon chemistry for subsequent concurrent complexation with fusion proteins barstar-SHH and biotin-CNTF, resulting in bioactive 3D patterned hydrogels. The technique should be broadly applicable to the patterning of a wide range of proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan G Wylie
- Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
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Blanchard J, Wanka L, Tung YC, Cárdenas-Aguayo MDC, LaFerla FM, Iqbal K, Grundke-Iqbal I. Pharmacologic reversal of neurogenic and neuroplastic abnormalities and cognitive impairments without affecting Aβ and tau pathologies in 3xTg-AD mice. Acta Neuropathol 2010; 120:605-21. [PMID: 20697724 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-010-0734-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2010] [Revised: 07/27/2010] [Accepted: 07/28/2010] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
In addition to the occurrence of numerous neurofibrillary tangles and Aβ plaques, neurogenesis and neuronal plasticity are markedly altered in Alzheimer disease (AD). Although the most popular therapeutic approach has been to inhibit neurodegeneration, another is to promote neurogenesis and neuronal plasticity by utilizing the regenerative capacity of the brain. Here we show that, in a transgenic mouse model of AD, 3xTg-AD mice, there was a marked deficit in neurogenesis and neuroplasticity, which occurred before the formation of any neurofibrillary tangles or Aβ plaques and was associated with cognitive impairment. Furthermore, peripheral administration of Peptide 6, an 11-mer, which makes an active region of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF, amino acid residues 146-156), restored cognition by enhancing neurogenesis and neuronal plasticity in these mice. Although this treatment had no detectable effect on Aβ and tau pathologies in 9-month animals, it enhanced neurogenesis in dentate gyrus, reduced ectopic birth in the granular cell layer, and increased neuronal plasticity in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. These findings, for the first time, demonstrate the possibility of therapeutic treatment of AD and related disorders by peripheral administration of a peptide corresponding to a biologically active region of CNTF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Blanchard
- Department of Neurochemistry, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, Staten Island, 10314, USA.
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Cheng G, Zhao X, Li Z, Liu X, Yan W, Zhang X, Zhong Y, Zheng Z. Identification of a putative invertebrate helical cytokine similar to the ciliary neurotrophic factor/leukemia inhibitory factor family by PSI-BLAST-based approach. J Interferon Cytokine Res 2009; 29:461-8. [PMID: 19514841 DOI: 10.1089/jir.2008.0078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Most of our knowledge of helical cytokine-like molecules in invertebrates relies on functional assays and similarities at the physicochemical level. It is hard to predict helical cytokines in invertebrates based on sequences from mammals and vertebrates, because of their long evolutionary divergence. In this article, we collected 12 kinds of fish cytokines and constructed their respective consensus sequences using hidden Markov models; then, the conserved domains region of each consensus sequence were further extracted by the SMART tool, and used as the query sequence for PSI-BLAST analysis in Drosophila melanogaster. After two filtering processes based on the properties of helical cytokines, we obtained one protein named CG14629, which shares 25% identities/46% positives to fish M17 cytokine in the half length of the N-terminus. Considering the homology between M17 and LIF/CNTF (leukemia inhibitory factor/ciliary neurotrophic factor), and the close relationship between Dome, the putative cytokine receptor in Drosophila cells, and LIFR/CNTFR (LIF receptor/CNTF receptor), the results suggest that CG14629 is a good candidate for the helical cytokine ortholog in D. melanogaster.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gong Cheng
- School of Life Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
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7
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Bloch J, Bachoud-Lévi AC, Déglon N, Lefaucheur JP, Winkel L, Palfi S, Nguyen JP, Bourdet C, Gaura V, Remy P, Brugières P, Boisse MF, Baudic S, Cesaro P, Hantraye P, Aebischer P, Peschanski M. Neuroprotective gene therapy for Huntington's disease, using polymer-encapsulated cells engineered to secrete human ciliary neurotrophic factor: results of a phase I study. Hum Gene Ther 2005; 15:968-75. [PMID: 15585112 DOI: 10.1089/hum.2004.15.968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 177] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a monogenic neurodegenerative disease that affects the efferent neurons of the striatum. The protracted evolution of the pathology over 15 to 20 years, after clinical onset in adulthood, underscores the potential of therapeutic tools that would aim at protecting striatal neurons. Proteins with neuroprotective effects in the adult brain have been identified, among them ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), which protected striatal neurons in animal models of HD. Accordingly, we have carried out a phase I study evaluating the safety of intracerebral administration of this protein in subjects with HD, using a device formed by a semipermeable membrane encapsulating a BHK cell line engineered to synthesize CNTF. Six subjects with stage 1 or 2 HD had one capsule implanted into the right lateral ventricle; the capsule was retrieved and exchanged for a new one every 6 months, over a total period of 2 years. No sign of CNTF-induced toxicity was observed; however, depression occurred in three subjects after removal of the last capsule, which may have correlated with the lack of any future therapeutic option. All retrieved capsules were intact but contained variable numbers of surviving cells, and CNTF release was low in 13 of 24 cases. Improvements in electrophysiological results were observed, and were correlated with capsules releasing the largest amount of CNTF. This phase I study shows the safety, feasibility, and tolerability of this gene therapy procedure. Heterogeneous cell survival, however, stresses the need for improving the technique.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Bloch
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Preti A. Axokine (Regeneron). IDrugs 2003; 6:696-701. [PMID: 12861475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/03/2023]
Abstract
Axokine, a second-generation neurotrophic factor that is related to ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), is under development by Regeneron for the potential treatment of obesity and associated complications such as type 2 diabetes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Preti
- Genneruxi Medical Center, Via Costantinopoli 42, I-09129 Cagliari, Italy.
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Sun Y, Pia M, Uwe O, Ge JG, Stefan RJ. Expression of a fusion protein of human ciliary neurotrophic factor and soluble CNTF-receptor and identification of its activity. J Zhejiang Univ Sci 2003; 4:340-345. [PMID: 12765290 DOI: 10.1631/jzus.2003.0340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) has pleiotropic actions on many neuronal populations as well as on glia. Signal transduction by CNTF requires that it bind first to CNTF-R, permitting the recruitment of gp130 and LIF-R, forming a tripartite receptor complex. Cells that only express gp130 and LIF-R, but not CNTF-R are refractory to stimulation by CNTF. On many target cells CNTF only acts in the presence of its specific agonistic soluble receptors. We engineered a soluble fusion protein by linking the COOH-terminus of sCNTF-R to the NH2-terminus of CNTF. Recombinant CNTF/sCNTF-R fusion protein (Hyper-CNTF) was successfully expressed in COS-7 cells. The apparent molecular mass of the Hyper-CNTF protein was estimated from western blots to be 75 kDa. Proliferation assays of transfected BAF/3 cells in response to CNTF and Hyper-CNTF were used to verify the activity of the cytokines. The proliferative results confirmed that CNTF required homodimerization of the gp130, CNTF-R and LIF-R receptor subunit whereas Hyper-CNTF required heterodimerization of the gp130 and LIF-R receptor subunit. We concluded that the fusion protein Hyper-CNTF had superagonistic activity on target cells expressing gp130 and LIF-R, but lacking membrane-bound CNTF-R.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Sun
- College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
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Sakuma K, Watanabe K, Totsuka T, Sano M, Nakano H, Nakao R, Nishikawa JJ, Sorimachi Y, Yoshimoto K, Yasuhara M. The reciprocal change of neurotrophin-4 and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor protein in the muscles, spinal cord and cerebellum of the dy mouse. Acta Neuropathol 2002; 104:482-92. [PMID: 12410396 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-002-0576-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2001] [Revised: 04/24/2002] [Accepted: 04/25/2002] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Laminin alpha2 (merosin)-deficient congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) patients show progressive muscle fiber necrosis and ineffective muscle regeneration, probably due to a lower formation of multinucleated myotubes due to an adhesion defect of myoblasts to each other. Some recent studies found that CMD patients have a white matter disorder and cerebellum atrophy. In the spinal cord of dy mice, a model of CMD, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was markedly expressed. Using Western blotting and immunohistochemical analyses, we investigated the levels of neurotrophin-4 (NT-4), brain-derived neurotrophic factor, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) in the central nervous system and skeletal muscles of dy mice. In the dy mice, the microtubule-associated protein-2 (MAP-2) protein level was markedly decreased in the Purkinje and granule cells of the cerebellum, and in lumbar motoneurons of the spinal cord. The motoneurons and axons of dy mice possessed lower expressions of phosphorylated tau. The amount of NT-4 was markedly lower in the cerebellum, spinal cord and hindlimb muscles of dy mice. In dy mice, GDNF was markedly enhanced in the Purkinje and granule cells of the cerebellum, in many lumbar motoneurons, and in the regenerating atrophied fibers. The CNTF protein level did not differ in the hindlimb muscles between the normal and dy mice. Therefore, GDNF could act to inhibit the death of Purkinje and granular neurons, and motoneurons, and to promote the remodeling of the neuromuscular junction of atrophied muscle fibers of dy mice. Furthermore, dy mice include neurogenic abnormalities in the cerebellum and spinal cord along with myogenic disorder of muscle fibers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kunihiro Sakuma
- Department of Legal Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 456 Kajii-cho, Kawaramachi-hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan.
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Abstract
The neutrophin family, the glial-derived neurotrophic factor family, and the ciliary neurotrophic factor are the best described growth factors specific for developing neurons and neutral crest cells. As might be expected for regulatory molecules of the complex central and peripheral nervous system, these factors show considerable receptor specificity and cross-talk. Thanks to a decade of intense research by numerous laboratories, the structures of many of these factors are now available. This review discusses the structural bases of receptor binding, specificity, and activation in each of these systems. Using structure-based sequence alignments, the evolutionary implications of these molecules and their receptors are discussed, followed by suggestions for further directions for research on the structure and function of these neurotrophic factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- M J Butte
- University of California San Francisco, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 94143-0448, USA.
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