title: 3-Nitropropionic acid activates calpain/cdk5 pathway in rat striatum.
abstract: 3-Nitropropionic acid (3-NP) is a neurotoxin that inhibits mitochondrial complex II and is used in an experimental model of Huntington's disease. Treatment of rats with 3-NP 30mgkg(-1) i.p. once a day for 5 days induced an increase in calpain activation in rat striatum, measured by the formation of 145kDa fragment of alpha-spectrin breakdown and by an increase in enzymatic calpain activity. In this neurotoxic model, Western blot studies revealed that calpain activity increase was followed by changes in cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (cdk5) and its activator p25. Our results indicated, after 10 days of treatment with 3-NP, a decrease in myocyte enhancer factor phosphorylation, a neuronal prosurvival factor. Thus, a decrease in its expression indicates a new potential mechanism of neuronal cell death mediated by the neurotoxin 3-NP. Accordingly, in our study we demonstrated in rat striatum the activation of the calpain/cdk5/p25 pathway in the 3-NP model. Previous studies have linked the deregulation of cdk5 with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. We suggest that calpain/cdk5 activation could also be a common pathway activated in other neurodegenerative diseases, which is liable to be targeted.
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Farmacologia i Farmacognòsia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Nucli Universitari de Pedralbes, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Crespo-Biel
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Camins
authors.forename: Carme
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pelegrí
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vilaplana
authors.forename: Mercè
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pallàs
authors.forename: Anna M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Canudas
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002154:Calpain / Q000378:metabolism*; D003292:Convulsants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects*; D051360:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5 / Q000378:metabolism*; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D009574:Nitro Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011422:Propionates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D003292:Convulsants; D009574:Nitro Compounds; D011422:Propionates; D051360:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5; D002154:Calpain; C015392:3-nitropropionic acid