Hitoshi Warita

Oxidative damage to mitochondrial DNA in spinal motoneurons of transgenic ALS mice.

In order to clarify a possible role of oxidative stress in motoneuron death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we examined a presence of 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), one of the best markers of the oxidative DNA damage, in the spinal cord of transgenic mice harboring a mutant Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene. Immunocytochemistry showed a progressive accumulation of 8-OHdG in ventral horn neurons from early and presymptomatic stage (25 weeks) before significant loss of ventral horn neurons, while no detectable 8-OHdG in non-transgenic control mice. At the late and symptomatic stage (35 weeks), the 8-OHdG-like immunoreactivity spread over the posterior horn of spinal cord in Tg mice. The immunoreactivity for 8-OHdG was not localized in the nucleus but in cytoplasm with small granular pattern. These data suggest that an oxidative damage to mitochondrial DNA is happening in spinal motoneurons of the Tg mice from very early stage of the disease, and may be involved in the mechanism of the subsequent motoneuron death in this model.

Immunoreactive Akt, PI3-K and ERK protein kinase expression in ischemic rat brain.

In order to clarify the role of protein kinases in ischemic brain injury, the spatiotemporal expression of immunoreactive serine-threonine kinase Akt, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) were examined at 3, 8, or 24 h after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats. Weak staining for these protein kinases was found in both cortical and caudate neurons in sham controls. The staining for Akt-1 and PI3-K was increased at 3-8 h in the ischemic penumbral region and declined at 24 h. A slight induction of these kinases was observed in the ischemic core region. Robust expression of ERK was noted at 3-8 h in most neurons in the area of ischemia. At 24 h, ERK continued to be expressed in the ischemic penumbra, but decreased in the ischemic core. These findings suggest that the signaling for Akt and PI3-K are different from the ERK dependent signal transduction during ischemic brain injury.

c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and JNK interacting protein response in rat brain after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion.

c-Jun response is involved in the development of ischemic brain injury, which is activated by c-Jun N-terminal kinase-1 (JNK-1). The activity of JNK-1 is strictly regulated, and only the phosphorylated form of JNK (phospho-JNK) which is translocated to the nucleus has an ability to activate c-Jun response. There is a protein which inhibits JNK-1 activation, and known as JNK interacting protein-1 (JIP-1). In this study, we investigated change in JNK-1, phospho-JNK, and JIP-1 immunoreactivity in rat brain after transient middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion. Immunoreactive JNK-1 was scant in the sham-control brain, but it was induced at 1 h after reperfusion, which was slightly increased at 3 h of reperfusion. By contrast, phospho-JNK remained negative till 3 h. At 8 h, JNK-1 and phospho-JNK became distinctly positive, and nuclei as well as cytoplasm were stained. Thereafter, immunoreactivity for JNK-1 and phospho-JNK became furthermore dense, and most neurons revealed positively stained nuclei. Immunoreactivity for JIP-1 remained negative till 8 h of reperfusion, but at 24 and 72 h, cytoplasm of cortical neurons at the MCA boundary area was positively stained. This JIP-1 induction got behind the JNK-1 activation, and therefore, may be a vain effort for neurons to survive. Inhibition of JNK-1 activation might become an innovative means of therapy for stroke treatment in the future.

Temporal profile of cytochrome c and caspase-3 immunoreactivities and TUNEL staining after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats

Abstract Although apoptotic pathways play important roles in ischemic neuronal injury, exact mechanism of apoptotic enzyme cascade has not been fully studied. Immunohistochemical stainings for cytochrome c and caspase-3, and histochemical staining for a terminal deoxynucleotidyl-transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling method (TUNED were examined in a rat model of permanent middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion. Cytochrome c was strongly induced in neurons of the ischemic penumbra from 3 h after MCA occlusion, and caspase-3 began to be induced in the same area from 3 h with a peak at 8 h. Neuronal cells in MCA area became TUNEL positive at delayed time, reaching a peak at 24 h. Thus, the peak of induction of cytochrome c preceded that of caspase-3, and these two peaks were also precedence of the peak of DNA-fragmentation. Western blot analysis showed cytosolic expression of cytochrome c from mitochondria. This study demonstrated 7. Rapid release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to the cytosol, mainly in neurons of the cortex at 3 h after ischemia. 2. Subsequent peaks of caspase-3 and TUNEL in this order. These temporal profiles suggest a serial cascadic activation of apoptotic pathways in neuronal death after permanent MCA occlusion of rats. [Neurol Res 2000; 22: 223-228]

Protective effect of ginkgo extract on rat brain with transient middle cerebral artery occlusion.

Abstract It has been empirically known that Ginkgo extract is useful for reducing many symptoms associated with cerebral blood flow (CBF) insufficiency, but its mechanisms have been uncertain. In the present study, therefore, we gave Ginkgo extract to rats with per os digestion, and investigated its effect on CBF and ischemic brain damage with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). The treatment with Ginkgo extract (W mg 100g-1 rat) increased CBF in the normal condition, but the degree of increase in CBF was lesser during and after MCAO. TTC staining showed that infarct volume was reduced with Ginkgo treatment. TUNEL and HSP72 immunostaining confirmed the protective effect of Ginkgo treatment reducing numbers ofTUNEL and FiSP72 positive cells. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that caspase-3 expression was less abundant in Ginkgo treated rats. The present results suggest that Ginkgo extract contains a substance which increases normal CBF and reduces ischemic brain damage. [Neurol Res 2000; 22: 517-521]

Different expression of glycogen synthase kinase-3β between young and old rat brains after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion

Abstract Ischemia is a common stress to human brain and is difficult to cure in older individuals. To examine the differences of the response to cerebral ischemia between young and old rat brains, distributions of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β) and tau proteins were analyzed after 90 min of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in young (10-11 weeks) and old (15 months) rats by immunohistochemical analyses. At 4 h of reperfusion, strong cytoplasmic and nuclear immunoreactivity for GSK3β was induced in neurons of lamina I, II, V and VI of the cerebral cortex and dorsal caudate in young brains, while the induction was not observed in lamina I and II of old cerebral cortex. The staining in lamina V and VI and dorsal caudate then gradually decreased until seven days of reperfusion in both animal groups. The staining of tau protein and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin in situ nick end labeling (TUNEL) did not show any positive signals in the control brain, but showed positive signals after ischemia with a peak at 24 h and 3 days, respectively. No significant difference was observed in the temporal and spatial patterns of tau and TUNEL stainings between these two groups. These data suggest that GSK3β may have a role in ischemic neuronal cell death, and that the different spatial expression of GSK3β between young and old rat brains may partly explain the vulnerability of older neurons after ischemia. [Neurol Res 2001; 23: 588-592]

Induction of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor receptor proteins in cerebral cortex and striatum after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats.

In an attempt to elucidate whether glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) receptors are induced after ischemic brain injury, possible expression of immunoreactive GDNF receptor-alpha1 (GFRalpha-1) and c-ret (RET) was examined at 3, 8, or 24 h after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats. Immunohistochemical study showed that both GFRalpha-1 and RET staining cells which were not detected in sham control brain, were present in the ipsilateral cortex and caudate at 3 to 8 h after permanent MCAO, and then decreased but remained to some extent at 24 h. Positive cells for both GDNF receptors were predominantly in cortical neurons of ischemic penumbral area. Western blot analysis confirmed the induction of those receptors after permanent MCAO. This rapid induction of GFRalpha-1 and RET, which correlates with the similar induction of GDNF under these conditions, may play a role in the early response to ischemic brain injury.

Expression of cyclin-dependent kinase 5 and its activator p35 in rat brain after middle cerebral artery occlusion

Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (cdk5) is a homologue of cell division cycle 2 (cdc2)-like protein kinase. It is mainly expressed in neurons, and supposed to be involved in the dynamic change of neurocytoskeleton structure seen in the brain after ischemia. In the present study, we investigated immunoreactivity for cdk5 and its critical regulatory subunit p35 in rat brain after 90 min of middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion. In the control brain, immunoreactive cdk5 was present in some neurons, while p35 was evident in almost all neurons. At 1 h after blood flow restoration, both of them were remarkably increased in the MCA territory. At 3 h, both immunoreactivities were decreased in the ischemic core region, while they became stronger in neurons at the boundary zone of the MCA territory, which decreased thereafter. These results might suggest that increased cdk5 activity in the brain after ischemia caused depolymerization of neurocytoskeletons, which resulted in neuronal cell death.

Early decrease of survival signal-related proteins in spinal motor neurons of presymptomatic transgenic mice with a mutant SOD1 gene

The mechanisms of motor neuronal death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) remain to be unclear. Phosphatidy-linositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) and its main downstream effector, Akt/protein kinase B (PKB) have been shown to play a central role in neuronal survival against apoptosis supported by neurotrophic factors. In order to investigate a possible impairment of survival signaling, we examined expressions of PI3-K and Akt in the spinal cord of the transgenic mice overexpressing a mutant Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene, a valuable model for human ALS. Immunoblotting and immunohistochemical analyses showed that the majority of spinal motor neurons lost the immunoreactivities for both PI3-K and Akt in the early and presymptomatic stage that preceded significant loss of the neurons. The present results suggest that an early decrease of survival signal proteins in the spinal motor neurons may account for the subsequent motor neuronal loss in this animal model of ALS.

Sjögren’s syndrome with acute transverse myelopathy as the initial manifestation

This is the first report of a patient with acute transverse myelopathy as the initial manifestation of primary Sjögrens syndrome (SS). The patient developed tetraparesis and sensory disturbance within 6 days of onset. Spinal MRI showed an extensive intraparenchymal lesion with high T2-weighted signal intensity, gadolinium enhancement, and cord swelling. Although the patient did not show clinical sicca symptoms, primary SS was diagnosed on the basis of clinical tests on lacrimal and salivary glands which showed high levels of autoantibodies. Treatment with prednisone improved motor and sensory symptoms and resulted in improvement of MRI findings. The present case suggests that acute transverse myelopathy can occur as an initial symptom of SS.