title: Action of citicoline on rat retinal expression of extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2).
abstract: Citicoline is an essential endogenous intermediate in the biosynthesis of phosphatidylcholine, which acts as a therapeutic agent in models of central nervous system injury and neurodegenerative diseases. The present study investigated the effects of citicoline on extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) expression in the rat retina after kainic acid (KA) treatment. KA (6 nmol) was injected into the vitreous of the rat eyes. The animals were then injected intraperitoneally with citicoline (500 mg/kg) twice daily after the KA injection. The neuroprotective effects of citicoline were estimated by evaluating temporal changes in ERK1/2 using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL), immunoblotting and immunohistochemical techniques. The expression of phosphorylated ERK1/2 was slightly decreased after 6 h, and significantly reduced after 12 h, in the rats receiving the KA injection plus citicoline treatment. Our results demonstrated that citicoline decreased the activation of ERK1/2 due to the KA treatment, suggesting that it exerts its neuroprotective activity by reducing the concentrations of proteins involved in apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, College of Medicine, Institute of Health Science, Medical Research Center for Neural Dysfunction, Gyeongsang National University, 92 Chilam-dong, Jinju, Kyungnam 660-751, South Korea.
authors.forename: Chang Hwan
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Yoon Sook
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Eun Woo
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Cheon
authors.forename: Hae Sook
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Noh
authors.forename: Chang Hyun
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: In Young
authors.initials: IY
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Ji Myong
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Sang Soo
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Wan Sung
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Gyeong Jae
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western / Q000379:methods; D002452:Cell Count / Q000379:methods; D003566:Cytidine Diphosphate Choline / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists / Q000633:toxicity; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling / Q000379:methods; D007608:Kainic Acid / Q000633:toxicity; D008297:Male; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D003566:Cytidine Diphosphate Choline; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases; D007608:Kainic Acid