12 research outputs found
Effects of Tanacetum polycephalum on passive avoidance learning and oxidative stress in epileptic model of memory impairment in the male Wistar rats
Mecanismos de neuroproteção em crises epilépticas: aspectos básicos e implicações clínicas
Protective effects of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents against manganese-induced oxidative damage and neuronal injury
Protection of DFP-induced oxidative damage and neurodegeneration by antioxidants and NMDA receptor antagonist
Effects of preconditioning by mild hypobaric hypoxia on the expression of manganese superoxide dismutase in the rat hippocampus
The role of group I metabotropic glutamate receptor's in neuronal excitotoxicity in Alzheimer's disease
Neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's disease, ischemia, and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are major causes of death. Recently, metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), a group of seven-transmembrane-domain proteins that couple to G-proteins, have become of interest for studies of pathogenesis. Group I mGluRs control the levels of second messengers such as inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP3) Cal(2+) ions and cAMP. They elicit the release of arachidonic acid via intracellular Ca2+ mobilization from intracellular stores such as mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum. This facilitates the release of glutamate and could trigger the formation of neurofibrillary tangles, a pathological hallmark of AD. mGluRs regulate neuronal injury and survival, possibly through a series of downstream protein kinase and cysteine protease signaling pathways that affect mitochondrially mediated programmed cell death. They may also play a role in glutamate-induced neuronal death by facilitating Cal(2+) mobilization. Hence, mGluRs have become a target for neuroprotective drug development. They represent a pharmacological path to a relatively subtle amelioration of neurotoxicity because they serve a modulatory rather than a direct role in excitatory glutamatergic transmission