title: Comparison of the neuroprotective effects of APV and bcl-2 in glutamate-induced cell death.
abstract: The neuroprotective effects of the NMDA receptor blocker APV were compared with those of bcl-2 in a glutamate-induced excitotoxic cell death model in cultured rat cortical neurons. Exposure to 100 microM glutamate for 5 h caused approximately 95% of the cultured neurons to die in 24 h. The NMDA-selective antagonist D-(-)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoate (APV) protected the neurons effectively when applied prior to or soon after glutamate treatment. However, infection with a viral vector expressing the proto-oncogene bcl-2 strongly protected neurons even if applied as late as 8 h following the glutamate insult. These data provides evidence that APV blocks an early stage of the death cascade in response to elevations of glutamate. By contrast bcl-2 appears to act at a fairly late stage in the cell death process and these results suggest a possible clinical role in treatment of ischemic brain disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cynader
mesh_terms: D015763:2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D015763:2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate