title: Prevention of endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced cell death by brain-derived neurotrophic factor in cultured cerebral cortical neurons.
abstract: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), one of the neurotrophic factors acting in the central nervous system (CNS), prevents ordinary types of neuronal cell death induced by various stimulants. On the other hand, an accumulation of unfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) leads to ER stress and then induces ER stress-mediated cell death. The ER stress-mediated cell death is distinctive because the caspase-12 activity plays a crucial role in the progression of cell death. We previously showed that nerve growth factor (NGF) attenuated ER stress-mediated cell death in non-neuronal PC12 cells. Here, we report that BDNF suppressed the ER stress-mediated cell death in tunicamycin (Tm)-treated cerebral cortical neurons. An analysis using a specific inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K), LY294002, revealed that BDNF prevented this cell death via the PI3-K signaling pathway. We found that the number of NeuN/TUNEL-double positive cells and the activity of caspase-3 suppressed by BDNF were increased by LY294002. We also discovered that LY294002 diminished the effect of BDNF on the activation of caspase-12, indicating that BDNF prevents ER stress-mediated cell death via a PI3-K-dependent mechanism by suppressing the activation of caspase-12 in cultured CNS neurons.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neurobiology, Faculty of Engineering and High Technology Research Center (HRC), Kansai University, 3-3-35 Yamate-cho, Suita, Osaka 564-8680, Japan. shimoke@ipcku.kansai-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimoke
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Utsumi
authors.forename: Soichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kishi
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Harue
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sasaya
authors.forename: Motoshige
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.forename: Toshihiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikeuchi
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000502:physiology*; D053454:Caspase 12; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D002460:Cell Line; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D002867:Chromones / Q000494:pharmacology; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D009025:Morpholines / Q000494:pharmacology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D014415:Tunicamycin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D002867:Chromones; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D009025:Morpholines; D014415:Tunicamycin; C085911:2-(4-morpholinyl)-8-phenyl-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; C506443:Casp12 protein, rat; C505410:Casp3 protein, rat; D053454:Caspase 12; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases