Ting Du

Pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy and brain edema in acute liver failure: role of glutamine redefined.

Acute liver failure (ALF) is characterized neuropathologically by cytotoxic brain edema and biochemically by increased brain ammonia and its detoxification product, glutamine. The osmotic actions of increased glutamine synthesis in astrocytes are considered to be causally related to brain edema and its complications (intracranial hypertension, brain herniation) in ALF. However studies using multinuclear (1)H- and (13)C-NMR spectroscopy demonstrate that neither brain glutamine concentrations per se nor brain glutamine synthesis rates correlate with encephalopathy grade or the presence of brain edema in ALF. An alternative mechanism is now proposed whereby the newly synthesized glutamine is trapped within the astrocyte as a consequence of down-regulation of its high affinity glutamine transporter SNAT5 in ALF. Restricted transfer out of the cell rather than increased synthesis within the cell could potentially explain the cell swelling/brain edema in ALF. Moreover, the restricted transfer of glutamine from the astrocyte to the adjacent glutamatergic nerve terminal (where glutamine serves as immediate precursor for the releasable/transmitter pool of glutamate) could result in decreased excitatory transmission and excessive neuroinhibition that is characteristic of encephalopathy in ALF. Paradoxically, in spite of renewed interest in arterial ammonia as a predictor of raised intracranial pressure and brain herniation in ALF, ammonia-lowering agents aimed at reduction of ammonia production in the gut have so far been shown to be of limited value in the prevention of these cerebral consequences. Mild hypothermia, shown to prevent brain edema and intracranial hypertension in both experimental and human ALF, does so independent of effects on brain glutamine synthesis; whether or not hypothermia restores expression levels of SNAT5 in ALF awaits further studies. While inhibitors of brain glutamine synthesis such as methionine sulfoximine, have been proposed for the prevention of brain edema in ALF, potential adverse effects have so far limited their applicability.

Signalling pathways for transactivation by dexmedetomidine of epidermal growth factor receptors in astrocytes and its paracrine effect on neurons

Background and purpose: Stimulation of astrocytes by the α2‐adrenoceptor agonist dexmedetomidine, a neuroprotective drug, transactivates epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors. The present study investigates signal pathways leading to release of an EGF receptor ligand and those activated during EGF receptor stimulation, and the response of neurons to dexmedetomidine and to astrocyte‐conditioned medium.

Signaling pathways of isoproterenol‐induced ERK1/2 phosphorylation in primary cultures of astrocytes are concentration‐dependent

J. Neurochem. (2010) 115, 1007–1023.

Crosstalk Between MAPK/ERK and PI3K/AKT Signal Pathways During Brain Ischemia/Reperfusion

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is linked to the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) and Raf/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) signaling pathways. During brain ischemia/reperfusion, EGFR could be transactivated, which stimulates these intracellular signaling cascades that either protect cells or potentiate cell injury. In the present study, we investigated the activation of EGFR, PI3K/AKT, and Raf/MAPK/ERK1/2 during ischemia or reperfusion of the brain using the middle cerebral artery occlusion model. We found that EGFR was phosphorylated and transactivated during both ischemia and reperfusion periods. During ischemia, the activity of PI3K/AKT pathway was significantly increased, as judged from the strong phosphorylation of AKT; this activation was suppressed by the inhibitors of EGFR and Zn-dependent metalloproteinase. Ischemia, however, did not induce ERK1/2 phosphorylation, which was dependent on reperfusion. Coimmunoprecipitation of Son of sevenless 1 (SOS1) with EGFR showed increased association between the receptor and SOS1 in ischemia, indicating the inhibitory node downstream of SOS1. The inhibitory phosphorylation site of Raf-1 at Ser259, but not its stimulatory phosphorylation site at Ser338, was phosphorylated during ischemia. Furthermore, ischemia prompted the interaction between Raf-1 and AKT, while both the inhibitors of PI3K and AKT not only abolished AKT phosphorylation but also restored ERK1/2 phosphorylation. All these findings suggest that Raf/MAPK/ERK1/2 signal pathway is inhibited by AKT via direct phosphorylation and inhibition at Raf-1 node during ischemia. During reperfusion, we observed a significant increase of ERK1/2 phosphorylation but no change in AKT phosphorylation. Inhibitors of reactive oxygen species and phosphatase and tensin homolog restored AKT phosphorylation but abolished ERK1/2 phosphorylation, suggesting that the reactive oxygen species-dependent increase in phosphatase and tensin homolog activity in reperfusion period relieves ERK1/2 from inhibition of AKT.

ERK phosphorylation in intact, adult brain by α2-adrenergic transactivation of EGF receptors

Our previous work demonstrated dexmedetomidine-activated phosphorylation of extracellular regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK(1/2)) in primary cultures of mouse astrocytes and showed that it is evoked by alpha(2)-adrenoceptor-mediated transactivation of epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors, a known response to activation of G(i/o)- or G(q)-coupled receptors [Li, B., Du, T., Li, H., Gu, L., Zhang, H., Huang, J., Hertz, L., Peng, L., 2008a. Signaling pathways for transactivation by dexmedetomidine of epidermal growth factor receptors in astrocytes and its paracrine effect on neurons. Br. J. Pharmacol. 154, 191-203]. Like most studies of transactivation, that study used cultured cells, raising the question whether a similar effect can be demonstrated in intact brain tissue and the brain in vivo. In the present study we have shown that (i) dexmedetomidine-mediated ERK(1/2) phosphorylation occurs in mouse brain slices with a similar concentration dependence as in cultured astrocytes (near-maximum effect at 50nM); (ii) intraperitoneal injection of dexmedetomidine (3microg/kg) in adult mice causes rapid phosphorylation of the EGF receptor (at Y845 and Y992) and of ERK(1/2) in the brain; (iii) both EGF receptor and ERK(1/2) phosphorylation are inhibited by intraventricular administration of (a) AG 1478, a specific inhibitor of the receptor-tyrosine kinase of the EGF receptor; (b) GM 6001, an inhibitor of metalloproteinase(s) required for release of EGF receptor agonists from membrane-bound precursors; or (c) heparin, neutralizing heparin-binding EGF (HB-EGF). Thus, in intact brain HB-EGF, known to be expressed in brain, may be the major EGF agonist released in response to stimulation of alpha(2)-adrenoceptors, the released agonist(s) activate(s) EGF receptors, and ERK(1/2) is phosphorylated as a conventional response to EGF receptor activation. Our previous paper (see above) showed that dexmedetomidine evokes no ERK(1/2) phosphorylation in cultured neurons, but neurons respond to astrocyte-conditioned medium (and to EGF) with ERK(1/2) phosphorylation. The present findings therefore suggest that EGF receptor transactivation in astrocytes in the mature brain in vivo is an important process in response to alpha(2)-adrenoceptor stimulation and may lead to phosphorylation of ERK(1/2) both in astrocytes themselves and in adjacent neurons.

Brain glycogenolysis, adrenoceptors, pyruvate carboxylase, Na(+),K(+)-ATPase and Marie E. Gibbs' pioneering learning studies.

The involvement of glycogenolysis, occurring in astrocytes but not in neurons, in learning is undisputed (Duran et al., 2013). According to one school of thought the role of astrocytes for learning is restricted to supply of substrate for neuronal oxidative metabolism. The present “perspective” suggests a more comprehensive and complex role, made possible by lack of glycogen degradation, unless specifically induced by either (1) activation of astrocytic receptors, perhaps especially β-adrenergic or (2) even small increases in extracellular K+ concentration above its normal resting level. It discusses (1) the known importance of glycogenolysis for glutamate formation, requiring pyruvate carboxylation; (2) the established role of K+-stimulated glycogenolysis for K+ uptake in cultured astrocytes, which probably indicates that astrocytes are an integral part of cellular K+ homeostasis in the brain in vivo; and (3) the plausible role of transmitter-induced glycogenolysis, stimulating Na+,K+-ATPase/NKCC1 activity and thereby contributing both to the post-excitatory undershoot in extracellular K+ concentration and the memory-enhancing effect of transmitter-mediated reduction of slow neuronal afterhyperpolarization (sAHP).

Astrocyte ERK phosphorylation precedes K + -induced swelling but follows hypotonicity-induced swelling

Hypotonicity following water intoxication and/or salt loss leads to mainly astrocytic brain swelling. Astrocytic swelling also occurs following brain trauma or ischemia, together with an increase in extracellular K+ ([K+]o), stimulating a bumetanide/furosemide/ethacrynic acid‐inhibitable cotransporter, NKCC1, that accumulates Na+ and K+ together with 2 Cl‐ and osmotically obliged water. Either type of swelling may become fatal and is associated with phosphorylation of extracellular regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2). Only the swelling associated with elevated [K+]o, leads to an increase in astrocytic proliferation and in expression of the astrocytic marker, glial fibrillary acidic protein. These differences prompted us to investigate key aspects of the molecular pathways between hypotonicity‐induced and high‐K+‐mediated swelling in primary cultures of mouse astrocytes. In the latter Ca2+‐mediated, AG1478‐inhibitable transactivation of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor leads, via bumetanide‐inhibitable activation of the mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway to ERK phosphorylation and to NKCC1‐mediated swelling. In the former, inhibition of the MAP kinase pathway, but not of EGF receptor activation, abolishes ERK phosphorylation, but has no effect on swelling, indicating that activation of ERK is a result, not a cause, of the swelling.

Chronic fluoxetine administration increases expression of the L-channel gene Cav1.2 in astrocytes from the brain of treated mice and in culture and augments K+-induced increase in [Ca2+]i

We have recently shown that freshly isolated astrocytes from the mouse brain express mRNA for the L-channel gene Cav1.3 to at least the same degree (per mg mRNA) as corresponding neurons. The amount of extracellular Ca(2+) actually entering cultured astrocytes by its opening is modest, but due to secondary Ca(2+)-mediated stimulation of the ryanodine receptor (RyR) the increase in free cytosolic Ca(2+) [Ca(2+)]i is substantial. The other Cav1 subtype expressed in brain is Cav1.2, which is even expressed in higher density. Although the different primers used for the two genes preclude exact quantitative comparison, the present study suggests that this is also the case in the freshly isolated astrocytes and neurons, which express equal Cav1.2 densities. Again, most of the increase in [Ca(2+)]i occurred by RyR activity. In contrast to Cav1.3 the expression of Cav1.2 was greatly increased (doubled) after two weeks of treatment with fluoxetine hydrochloride (10mg/kg). Accordingly [Ca(2+)]i in cultured astrocytes exposed to the addition of 10-60mM KCl increased substantially in cultured astrocytes treated chronically with fluoxetine with the lag time until the effect was observed depending upon the fluoxetine concentration. This effect was inhibited by nifedipine or siRNA against Cav1.2. The increase in K(+)-induced rise in [Ca(2+)]i after fluoxetine treatment is directly opposite to a decrease in [Ca(2+)]i after treatment with any of the anti-bipolar drugs lithium, carbamazepine or valproic acid, due to reduced capacitative Ca(2+) influx. We have previously shown a similar effect after fluoxetine treatment, but it becomes overridden by the Cav1.2 up-regulation.

Astrocytic transactivation by α2A-adrenergic and 5-HT2B serotonergic signaling

EGF receptor transactivation has been known for more than ten years. It is a signal pathway in which a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signal leads to release of a growth factor, which in turn activates the EGF receptor-tyrosine kinase in the same or adjacent cells. Astrocytes express a number of GPCRs and play key roles in brain function. Astrocytic transactivation is of special interest, since its autocrine effect may regulate gene expression and alter cell functions in the cells themselves and its paracrine effect may provide additional opportunities for cross-talk between astrocytes and their neighbors, such as neurons. The signal pathways of EGF transactivation are complicated. This does not only apply to the pathways leading to shedding of growth factor(s), but also to the downstream signal pathways of the EGF receptor, i.e., MAPK and PI3K. The latter may vary according to the type of growth factor released, the sites of tyrosine phosphorylation on the EGF receptor, and the duration of the phosphorylation. Using primary cell cultures we have found that dexmedetomidine, a specific alpha(2)-adrenergic receptor, induced shedding of HB-EGF from astrocytes, which in turn transactivated EGF receptors and stimulated astrocytic c-Fos and FosB expression. At the same time released HB-EGF protected neurons from injury caused by H(2)O(2). We have also confirmed dexmedetomidine transactivation in the brain in vivo. EGF transactivation by 5-HT(2B) receptor stimulation was responsible for up-regulation of cPLA(2) in astrocytes by fluoxetine, an antidepressant and inhibitor of the serotonin transporter, which also is a specific 5-HT(2B) agonist.

Signal Transduction in Astrocytes during Chronic or Acute Treatment with Drugs (SSRIs, Antibipolar Drugs, GABA-ergic Drugs, and Benzodiazepines) Ameliorating Mood Disorders

Chronic treatment with fluoxetine or other so-called serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitor antidepressants (SSRIs) or with a lithium salt “lithium”, carbamazepine, or valproic acid, the three classical antibipolar drugs, exerts a multitude of effects on astrocytes, which in turn modulate astrocyte-neuronal interactions and brain function. In the case of the SSRIs, they are to a large extent due to 5-HT2B-mediated upregulation and editing of genes. These alterations induce alteration in effects of cPLA2, GluK2, and the 5-HT2B receptor, probably including increases in both glucose metabolism and glycogen turnover, which in combination have therapeutic effect on major depression. The ability of increased levels of extracellular K+ to increase [Ca2+]i is increased as a sign of increased K+-induced excitability in astrocytes. Acute anxiolytic drug treatment with benzodiazepines or GABAA receptor stimulation has similar glycogenolysis-enhancing effects. The antibipolar drugs induce intracellular alkalinization in astrocytes with lithium acting on one acid extruder and carbamazepine and valproic acid on a different acid extruder. They inhibit K+-induced and transmitter-induced increase of astrocytic [Ca2+]i and thereby probably excitability. In several cases, they exert different changes in gene expression than SSRIs, determined both in cultured astrocytes and in freshly isolated astrocytes from drug-treated animals.