Clinical perspectives: neuroprotection lessons from hypoxia-tolerant organisms.
An effective treatment for brain ischemia is a pressing medical need. Research on brain ischemia has largely focused on understanding the mechanisms of neuron death as a way of identifying targets for therapy. An attractive alternative approach is to identify the survival strategies of hypoxia-tolerant neurons. The adaptation of vertebrate neurons to hypoxia occurs in at least three major ways: (1) as a constitutive property of neurons in anoxia-tolerant turtles and fish, (2) as a property of intra-uterine and early post-natal mammalian development, and (3) as part of a slower, chronic process, as in acclimitization to high altitude. Research on hypoxia-tolerant neurons has already revised several earlier concepts, including the role of calcium in cell death and survival, and the value of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonism. A broad and fundamental understanding of how neurons adapt to hypoxia is likely to help guide efforts to find new treatments for brain hypoxia and ischemia.
Bickler
Philip E
PE
Department of Anesthesia, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0542, USA.
D000064:Acclimatization / Q000502:physiology; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000531:Altitude; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008322:Mammals / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000378:metabolism; D014426:Turtles / Q000378:metabolism*
D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D010100:Oxygen; D002118:Calcium