title: Excitable membranes, lipid messengers, and immediate-early genes. Alteration of signal transduction in neuromodulation and neurotrauma.
abstract: The physical nature of neuronal cells, particularly in the functional and morphological segregation of synapse, soma, and dendrites, imparts special importance on the integrity of their cell membranes for the localization of function, generation of intrinsic second messengers, and plasticity required for adaptation and repair. The component phospholipids of neural membranes are important sources of bioactive mediators that participate in such diverse phenomena as memory formation and cellular damage following trauma. A common role for PAF in these processes is established through the suppressive effects of its antagonists. Furthermore, being both an extracellular and intracellular agonist of phospholipase activation, in addition to being a product of phospholipase activity, PAF assumes a centralized role in the cellular metabolism following neural stimulation. The linkage of PAF to neural immediate-early gene expression, both in vitro and in vivo, suggests that its effects are initiating to long-term formative and reparative processes. Such a common link between destructive and plastic responses provides an important view of cellular and tissue maintenance in the nervous system.
authors.affiliation: LSU Eye Center, Louisiana State University Medical Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans 70112-2234.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Doucet
authors.forename: N G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Bazan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000502:physiology; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000502:physiology*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009857:Oncogenes; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000502:physiology; D010972:Platelet Activating Factor / Q000502:physiology*; D015290:Second Messenger Systems; D012640:Seizures / Q000503:physiopathology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission
chemical_list: D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D010743:Phospholipids; D010972:Platelet Activating Factor