title: Implication of the transcription factor E2F-1 in the modulation of neuronal apoptosis.
abstract: Neurodegenerative diseases as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders remain major problem worldwide since is currently no effective treatment. Thus, studying the mechanisms involved in neuronal apoptotic pathways is imperative if drugs that might stop or delay these disease processes are to be synthesized. In recent years it has become evident that mitochondria are key component of the neuronal apoptotic route. In addition to mitochondria, other intracellular components have been implicated in this process. Thus, DNA damage and re-entry into the cell cycle may constitute a common pathway in apoptosis in neurological diseases. The implication of cell cycle in neurodegenerative disorders is supported by data on the brain of patients who showed an increase in cell cycle protein expression. Indeed, studies performed in neuronal cell preparations indicate that re-entry into the cell cycle and, more specifically, an increase in the expression of E2F-1 transcription role of DNA damage/repair as a potential mechanism in cell cycle re-entry. In this context, ataxia telangiectasia mutated protein could be the enzyme responsible for neuronal apoptosis activation. Furthermore, the potential routes involved in E2F-1 induced apoptosis, p53-dependent and p53-independent, are similarly reviewed. Under this hypothesis, multiple pathways have been suggested, including the route of caspases. Finally, given the increasing experimental data on the neuroprotective and antiapoptotic effects of cyclin dependent kinase CDK inhibitory drugs, including flavopiridol, their application for the treatment of neurological disorders is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Farmacologia i Toxicologia, IIBB-CSIC, IDIBAPS, Rossello 161, Planta 6, 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Ester
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Verdaguer
authors.forename: García de Arriba
authors.initials: Gde A
authors.lastname: Susana
authors.forename: Allgaier
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Clemens
authors.forename: Mercè
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pallàs
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Camins
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000502:physiology; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018844:Cyclin-Dependent Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D004249:DNA Damage; D004260:DNA Repair; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D050687:E2F1 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D016158:Genes, p53; D006801:Humans; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D050687:E2F1 Transcription Factor; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C576324:ATM protein, human; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D018844:Cyclin-Dependent Kinases