title: Memantine attenuates staurosporine-induced activation of caspase-3 and LDH release in mouse primary neuronal cultures.
abstract: Developmental aspects of pro- and antiapoptotic action of some NMDA receptor antagonists in the central nervous system have been postulated. In order to further elucidate this problem, we investigated effect of memantine, an uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist and staurosporine alone and in combination on caspase-3 activity and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release in primary hippocampal, neocortical and striatal cell cultures on 7 and 12 days in vitro. The data showed that the vulnerability of neuronal cells to induction of caspase-3 activity by staurosporine was higher on 7 DIV than on 12 DIV, whereas staurosporine-mediated LDH release increased with days in vitro in striatal culture only. A specific inhibitor of caspase-3, AcDEVDCHO (60 microM), completely abolished the effect of staurosporine on this enzyme's activity, but only partially attenuated staurosporine-induced LDH release in hippocampal cells. Memantine alone (0.05-2.0 microM) did not induce any cytotoxic effect but attenuated the staurosporine-induced caspase-3 activity and LDH release in hippocampal cultured neurons on each investigated day in vitro. In striatal culture, memantine had a moderate inhibitory effect on staurosporine-evoked LDH release only on 7 DIV with no significant influence on caspase-3 activity. As for neocortical cultures, memantine partially inhibited staurosporine-induced neuronal injury only on 7 DIV. These data showed that the induction of caspase-3 activity by staurosporine was more profound in immature cells, however, the staurosporine neurotoxicity, as reflected by LDH release, only partially depended on caspase-3 activation and stage of cell development. Furthermore, memantine attenuated staurosporine-induced apoptosis more efficiently in hippocampal cultures than in neocortical and striatal ones, which points to tissue specificity of effects of this neuroprotectant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Neuroendocrinology, Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Smetna 12, 31-343 Krakow, Poland. jantas@if-pan.krakow.pl
authors.forename: Danuta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jantas-Skotniczna
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kajta
authors.forename: Władysław
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lasoń
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*; D008559:Memantine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects*; D019311:Staurosporine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; C505409:Casp3 protein, mouse; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases; D019311:Staurosporine; D008559:Memantine