title: Tissue-type plasminogen activator and the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein induce Akt phosphorylation in the ischemic brain.
abstract: Tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) is found in the intravascular space and in the central nervous system. The low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP) is expressed in neurons and in perivascular astrocytes. During cerebral ischemia, tPA induces the shedding of LRP's extracellular domain from perivascular astrocytes, and this is followed by the development of cerebral edema. Protein kinase B (Akt) is a serine/threonine kinase that plays a critical role not only in cell survival but also in the regulation of the permeability of the blood-brain barrier. We found that, in the early phases of the ischemic insult, the interaction between tPA and LRP induces Akt phosphorylation (pAkt) in perivascular astrocytes and inhibits pAkt in neurons. Coimmunoprecipitation studies indicate that pAkt and LRP's intracellular domain interact in perivascular astrocytes and that this interaction is dependent on the presence of tPA and results in the development of edema. Together, these results indicate that, in the early stages of cerebral ischemia, the interaction between tPA and LRP in perivascular astrocytes induces the activation of a cell signaling event mediated by pAkt that leads to increase in the permeability of the blood-brain barrier.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Rohini
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Polavarapu
authors.forename: Xiaohui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiumei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yepes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000201:enzymology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D016923:Cell Death; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D020244:Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D026503:Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein-1 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010766:Phosphorylation; D010958:Plasminogen / Q000172:deficiency; D011485:Protein Binding; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism*; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D026503:Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein-1; D010958:Plasminogen; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator