title: Agmatine protects retinal ganglion cells from hypoxia-induced apoptosis in transformed rat retinal ganglion cell line.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Agmatine is an endogenous polyamine formed by the decarboxylation of L-arginine. We investigated the protective effects of agmatine against hypoxia-induced apoptosis of immortalized rat retinal ganglion cells (RGC-5). RGC-5 cells were cultured in a closed hypoxic chamber (5% O2) with or without agmatine. Cell viability was determined by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay and apoptosis was examined by annexin V and caspase-3 assays. Expression and phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs; JNK, ERK p44/42, and p38) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) were investigated by Western immunoblot analysis. The effects of agmatine were compared to those of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a well-known protective neurotrophin for retinal ganglion cells.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After 48 hours of hypoxic culture, the LDH assay showed 52.3% cell loss, which was reduced to 25.6% and 30.1% when agmatine and BDNF were administered, respectively. This observed cell loss was due to apoptotic cell death, as established by annexin V and caspase-3 assays. Although total expression of MAPKs and NF-kappaB was not influenced by hypoxic injury, phosphorylation of these two proteins was increased. Agmatine reduced phosphorylation of JNK and NF-kappaB, while BDNF suppressed phosphorylation of ERK and p38.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results show that agmatine has neuroprotective effects against hypoxia-induced retinal ganglion cell damage in RGC-5 cells and that its effects may act through the JNK and NF-kappaB signaling pathways. Our data suggest that agmatine may lead to a novel therapeutic strategy to reduce retinal ganglion cell injury related to hypoxia.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. samini@yuhs.ac
authors.forename: Samin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Jong Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chan Yun
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Gong Je
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Seong
mesh_terms: D000376:Agmatine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D015687:Cell Hypoxia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D000376:Agmatine