title: Recombinant plasma-type platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase attenuates NMDA-induced hippocampal neuronal apoptosis.
abstract: The bioactive lipid platelet-activating factor (PAF) accumulates in brain during injury, seizures and ischemia and may, in addition, be significant in AIDS dementia and in other neurodegenerative diseases. We have used plasma-type recombinant PAF acetylhydrolase (rPAF-AH) to test the hypothesis that PAF accumulation is involved in early events leading to neuronal apoptosis during excitotoxic neuronal injury. Neuronal cultures were labeled with FITC-12-dUTP (TUNEL technique) and propidium iodide, digitized using fluorescence microscopy and a chilled 3CCD color camera, and analyzed with 2D graphics analysis software. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) (50 microM, 2 hr) induced a 2.5-fold increase in apoptosis of hippocampal neurons compared with controls when analyzed 24 hr after NMDA treatment. Hippocampal neurons receiving rPAF-AH (20 microg/ml) before, during, and after NMDA treatment demonstrated a concentration-dependent neuroprotective effect which resulted in 47% and 30% neuroprotection against 50 and 100 microM NMDA, respectively. The noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801(300 nM) completely inhibited apoptosis caused by NMDA. The neuroprotective effect of rPAF-AH against NMDA-induced apoptosis was confirmed using as additional criteria, histone release, electron microscopy, and DNA laddering. Neuroprotection elicited by rPAF-AH demonstrates that PAF is an injury mediator in NMDA-induced neuronal apoptosis and that the recombinant protein is potentially useful as a therapeutic approach.
authors.affiliation: Louisiana State University Neuroscience Center, Louisiana State University Medical Center School of Medicine, New Orleans 70112, USA.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ogden
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: DeCoster
authors.forename: N G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Bazan
mesh_terms: D043203:1-Alkyl-2-acetylglycerophosphocholine Esterase; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate / Q000494:pharmacology; D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D016202:N-Methylaspartate / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D010741:Phospholipases A / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
chemical_list: D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016202:N-Methylaspartate; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate; D010741:Phospholipases A; D043203:1-Alkyl-2-acetylglycerophosphocholine Esterase