title: Carnosine and taurine protect rat cerebellar granular cells from free radical damage.
abstract: Carnosine and taurine have been suggested to protect excitable tissues against oxidative stress. We have investigated the protection of cerebellar granule cells (neurons) by these compounds against free radicals generated by kainic acid (KA), and 3-morpholinosydnonimine hydrochloride (SIN-1) treatment. Carnosine decreased free radical levels in KA and SIN-1 treated cells, and increased cell viability. The KA effect, but not that of SIN-1, was dependent on the presence of external Ca2+ ions. Taurine increased cell viability, but did not decrease free radical levels. These results suggest that there are multiple pathways leading to cell death, not all of which involve decreases in intracellular free radical levels, and also indicate that multiple mechanisms of cellular defense exist against oxidative stress.
authors.affiliation: Center for Biotechnology, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Department of Biochemistry, Russia.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Boldyrev
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: D O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Carpenter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002336:Carnosine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000166:cytology*; D005609:Free Radicals / Q000378:metabolism; D007608:Kainic Acid / Q000633:toxicity; D008981:Molsidomine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000633:toxicity; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013654:Taurine / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D005609:Free Radicals; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D013654:Taurine; C002385:linsidomine; D002336:Carnosine; D008981:Molsidomine; D007608:Kainic Acid