甲醛炎性痛诱导大鼠海马神经元凋亡

目的：观察甲醛炎性痛是否可诱导大鼠海马神经元凋亡。方法：采用行为学方法观察大鼠自发痛反应,流式细胞术检测海马神经元凋亡率,免疫组织化学法检测海马神经元p53蛋白的表达。结果：与正常对照组相比,大鼠足底皮下注射甲醛后海马神经元凋亡率显著增高,海马各区p53蛋白表达明显增加,二者均于注射甲醛后3d达高峰;足底两次注射甲醛和一次注射甲醛组比较,大鼠自发痛反应增强,并且海马神经元凋亡率进一步增加。结论：甲醛炎性痛可诱导大鼠海马神经元凋亡,这种改变具有一定的时程特征;海马神经元凋亡率与疼痛强度有关;p53蛋白的表达增加可能参与了伤害性信息传入对神经元凋亡的诱导。     

缺糖缺氧对体外培养海马神经元的影响

目的：观察缺糖缺氧诱导的培养海马神经元损伤。方法：取培养12d的海马神经元,在缺糖缺氧条件下分别培养0．5～4h后取出,换原神经元培养液在常氧条件下继续培养24h。用0．4％台盼蓝染色,检测神经元坏死,并用TUNEL法检测神经元凋亡,计算存活、坏死和凋亡神经元所占百分率。同时用图像分析仪测定存活、坏死和凋亡神经元的胞体面积、周长和等园直径。结果：培养的海马神经元急性缺糖缺氧后0．5～4h,随缺糖缺氧时间的延长,坏死神经元逐渐增多,缺糖缺氧后0．5～2h再恢复糖和氧供应后24h,凋亡神经元明显增多。图像分析的结果表明,坏死神经元的胞体面积、周长和等园直径均明显大于凋亡神经元。结论：缺糖缺氧可引起海马神经元严重损伤,在急性缺糖缺氧后0．5～4h引起的神经元死亡以坏死为多见,但在缺糖缺氧后0．5～2h再恢复糖和氧供应后24,神经元死亡则以凋亡为多见。     

高同型半胱氨酸对大鼠神经元的损伤作用及其相关机制的研究

目的:研究同型半胱氨酸(Hcy)对体外培养神经元的损伤作用及其相关机制。方法:用Hcy处理体外培养的海马和皮层神经元,观察神经元的凋亡情况,以及神经元内游离钙浓度改变、DNA损伤和氧化损伤。结果:用250μmol/LHcy作用4h可使神经元凋亡率显著升高,并呈时间依赖性。甲基供体S-腺苷蛋氨酸(SAM)可显著抑制Hcy引起的神经元凋亡。Hcy(250μmol/L)可使神经元内游离钙浓度显著升高;导致神经元的彗星率明显增高;使神经元内MDA的产生增多,但并不影响神经元的总抗氧化能力(T-AOC)。结论:高浓度Hcy可通过神经兴奋作用、DNA损伤和氧化损伤等多方面机制对神经元造成损伤作用,从而诱导神经元发生凋亡。DNA损伤在Hcy导致神经元凋亡的作用中起着关键作用。     

大蒜素对全脑缺血侑灌注诱导的海马神经元凋亡的影响

的：观察大蒜素对全脑缺血／再灌注诱导的海马神经元凋亡的影响：方法：采用大鼠全脑缺血／再灌注模型;应用DNA琼脂糖凝胶电泳、透射电镜和流式细胞仪检测海马神经元凋亡情况结果：缺血／再灌注大鼠海马DNA电泳呈现细胞凋亡特有的“梯状条带”,大蒜素预处理组未出现“梯状条带”;透射电镜观察到缺血／再灌注海马部分神经元超微结构呈现明显的凋亡特征,大蒜素预处理可改善神经元超微结构;缺血／再灌注海马神经元凋亡率较假手术组明显增加,大蒜素预处理可明显降低缺血／再灌注大鼠海马神经元凋亡率,结论：大蒜素可抑制全脑缺血／再灌注诱导的海马神经元凋亡、     

Aβ25-35诱导大鼠记忆减退时脑组织损伤及热耐受后HSP70变化对其的影响

目的探讨Aβ25-35诱导模拟人类Alzheimer’s病(AD)的大鼠病理模型中神经元受损与老年性记忆减退之间的关系,以及热耐受处理致HSP70产生对其的影响。方法采用海马内一次性注射β-淀粉样多肽25-35片段(Aβ25-35)制作大鼠AD模型,一周后进行水迷宫行为学测定,采用免疫组化法检测海马CA1区HSP70的表达、HE染色观察细胞形态、流式细胞仪检测神经元的坏死和凋亡。结果与对照组相比,海马内注射Aβ25-35后出现学习记忆能力降低,神经元的坏死和凋亡增多,并且海马区有HSP70的生成,而热休克预处理组能够进一步增加HSP70的生成(P<0·05),减轻神经元的坏死和凋亡的程度(P<0·05)。结论海马内注射Aβ25-35诱导的大鼠学习记忆功能低下与凋亡导致神经元数量减少有关,而Aβ的毒性是神经元凋亡的重要原因,热休克预处理通过增加热休克蛋白表达,对神经元起一定的保护作用。     

抑郁症大鼠海马神经元凋亡率和自噬相关蛋白的改变

目的 观察抑郁症模型大鼠海马神经元形态结构改变及凋亡、自噬的变化,探讨抑郁症海马体积异常的机制.方法 选用雄性成年SD大鼠,随机分为正常对照组和模型组,通过给予不可预见慢性温和应激建立抑郁症模型;采用尼氏染色、透射电镜技术观察海马神经元形态变化,流式细胞术检测海马神经元凋亡,采用透射电镜观察海马神经元自噬体,Western blott检测自噬相关蛋白LC-3和Beclin 1.结果 与对照组比较,模型组海马神经元体积萎缩,数量减少,细胞凋亡率增高（P〈0.05）.模型组海马神经元胞质内可见自噬体;与对照组相比,模型组LC-3Ⅱ蛋白和LC-3Ⅱ/LC-3Ⅰ比值增高,Beclin-1相对表达增高（P〈0.05）.结论 抑郁症大鼠海马神经元存在体积萎缩现象,可能与神经元凋亡和自噬增强有关.     

PACAP受体激活对抗Aβ25-35致神经元凋亡作用的观察

目的和方法：本研究采用体外原代培养新生大鼠海马神经元的方法探讨了垂体腺苷环化酶激活多肽（PACAP）对抗淀粉样蛋白（Aβ25-35）致凋亡的作用机理。结果：25μmol/L的Aβ蛋白处理神经元5d即有明显的凋亡特征出现。PACAP27（P27）在正常情况下对海马神经元无明显营养作用,但当Aβ导致神经元凋亡时P27有显著的保护作用,可以提高神经元的活性,减少细胞凋亡数目,降低基因组小片段DNA含量。PACAP受体拮抗剂PACAP6－27（P6－27）可以逆转P27的保护作用。结论：研究结果说明PACAP通过受体激活参与对抗Aβ的神经毒性效应。     

电磁脉冲辐照大鼠海马区细胞凋亡与形态学变化

以体外原代培养的大鼠海马神经元和Wistar大鼠为研究对象,探讨电磁脉冲(场强为6× 104 V/m)辐照后早期海马区细胞凋亡和病理形态学的变化.在照射后1h、6h、12h、24h和48h分别采用MTT法和流式细胞仪测定死亡细胞和凋亡细胞的比例,用光镜和电镜分别进行形态学观察.结果显示在电磁脉冲辐照后,海马神经细胞不仅发生快速的坏死,而且还发生凋亡,同时在早期即可见到血管、胶质细胞和神经元等组织的形态学异常.表明大鼠大脑受电磁脉冲辐照后早期海马区可发生神经细胞坏死和凋亡,以及各组织成分的病理形态学改变,上述变化可能与电磁脉冲致细胞DNA损伤有关.     

电磁辐射对原代培养海马神经元的损伤效应及其机制探讨

研究X带高功率微波、S带高功率微波及电磁脉冲辐射对原代培养海马神经元的损伤效应并探讨其机制。通过体外培养原代海马神经元,建立电磁波辐照细胞模型。采用Annexin V-PI双标记、流式细胞术检测细胞凋亡与坏死,原子力显微镜检测细胞膜表面形态,Fluo-3-AM荧光探针负载、激光扫描共聚焦显微镜测定胞内[Ca2 ]i。结果表明,辐射后海马神经元凋亡与坏死均增加,其中坏死增加明显;细胞膜表面粗糙度加大,膜穿孔增多;胞内[Ca2 ]i明显升高。且以上变化均以X带高功率微波组最重,S带高功率微波组次之,电磁脉冲组最轻。提示细胞膜穿孔增多,膜通透性增加,导致胞外Ca2 内流增加,甚至胞内钙超载是辐射致海马神经元凋亡与坏死的机制之一;三种电磁辐射对海马神经元的损伤程度与照射频率呈正相关。     

锌离子调节皮质酮对原代培养大鼠海马神经元的损伤

探讨皮质酮对原代培养大鼠海马神经元的损伤效应及锌的调节作用。用原位染色和RT-PCR方法,分别检测神经元的损伤情况及NMDA受体三种亚基(NRl、NR2A、NR2B)mRNA的表达。皮质酮(5μmol／L)作用2,4h可明显降低海马神经元的存活率,导致神经元凋亡,并随着作用时间的延长而加重;锌离子明显影响皮质酮对海马神经元的损伤效应：同时加入皮质酮和低、中浓度Zn^2 (10、100μmol／L),可明显降低神经元凋亡率,而加入高浓度Zn^2 (250μmol／L)则加重神经元损伤。皮质酮作用24h后,海马神经元NRl、NR2BmRNA的表达水平增高,而同时加入低、中浓度Zn^2 (10、100μmol／L)的海马神经元NRl、NR2BmRNA表达水平与对照组接近;NR2AmRNA表达无明显变化。这些结果表明,锌对皮质酮所致应激损伤的调节具有双向性;NMDA受体亚基水平的变化可能是其中重要环节之一。     

钾通道在培养大鼠海马神经元凋亡性容积减少中的作用

为探讨钾通道参与神经元凋亡的可能机制,在星形孢菌素（STS)诱导的培养海马神经元凋亡模型上,研究了凋亡时神经细胞容积的动态变化及钾通道在其中的作用.实验结果显示,钾通道阻断剂四乙铵或升高细胞外K⁺均能够明显抑制STS诱导的神经元凋亡,并且大电导钙激活钾通道（BK）选择性阻断剂iberiotoxin和paxilline具有同样程度的抗细胞凋亡作用,表明钾通道（可能主要是BK通道）参与了STS诱导的培养海马神经元凋亡.在STS诱导神经元凋亡的早期就出现了细胞容积的显著减少,而钾通道阻断剂或升高细胞外K⁺均可阻断该细胞容积减少.研究结果提示细胞内钾离子的外流可能参与了凋亡性细胞容积减少,这也可能是钾通道介导细胞凋亡的重要机制之一.     

Glucocorticoids Exacerbate Hypoxic and Hypoglycemic Hippocampal Injury In Vitro: Biochemical Correlates and a Role for Astrocytes

The acute secretion of glucocorticoids is critical for responding to physiological stress. Under normal circumstances these hormones do not cause acute neuronal injury, but they have been shown to enhance ischemic and seizure-induced neuronal injury in the rat brain. Using fetal rat hippocampal cultures, we asked whether hypoxic and hypoglycemic cell damage in vitro could be exacerbated by direct exposure to corticosterone (CORT). Each of these insults alone damaged neuronal cells, whereas 4-6 h of hypoxic treatment could damage age-matched astrocytes if glucose was reduced or omitted. Ischemic-like injury to both cell types could be attenuated by pretreatment with high (30 mM) glucose. Exposure to 100 nM CORT did not affect cell viability under control conditions but enhanced both hypoxic and hypoglycemic neuronal injury. In both cases, pretreatment with high glucose abolished this CORT-mediated synergy. In astrocyte cultures, CORT exacerbated both hypoxic and hypoglycemic injury and this effect was also attenuated by high-glucose pretreatment. Identical 24-h CORT treatment caused a 13% reduction in glucose uptake in astrocytes and a 38% reduction in glycogen content, without affecting the level of intracellular glucose. Thus, CORT could endanger both neurons and astrocytes in mixed hippocampal cultures and this effect emerged only under conditions of substrate depletion. The metabolic disruption in astrocytes by CORT further suggests that the ability of CORT to exacerbate neuronal injury may be due in part to impaired glial cell function.     

24(S)-hydroxycholesterol induces neuronal cell death through necroptosis, a form of programmed necrosis

24(S)-Hydroxycholesterol (24S-OHC) produced by cholesterol 24-hydroxylase expressed mainly in neurons plays an important physiological role in the brain. Conversely, it has been reported that 24S-OHC possesses potent cytotoxicity. The molecular mechanisms of 24S-OHC-induced cell death have not yet been fully elucidated. In this study, using human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells and primary cortical neuronal cells derived from rat embryo, we characterized the form of cell death induced by 24S-OHC. SH-SY5Y cells treated with 24S-OHC exhibited neither fragmentation of the nucleus nor caspase activation, which are the typical characteristics of apoptosis. 24S-OHC-treated cells showed necrosis-like morphological changes but did not induce ATP depletion, one of the features of necrosis. When cells were treated with necrostatin-1, an inhibitor of receptor-interacting serine/threonine kinase 1 (RIPK1) required for necroptosis, 24S-OHC-induced cell death was significantly suppressed. The knockdown of RIPK1 by transfection of small interfering RNA of RIPK1 effectively attenuated 24S-OHC-induced cell death. It was found that neither SH-SY5Y cells nor primary cortical neuronal cells expressed caspase-8, which was regulated for RIPK1-dependent apoptosis. Collectively, these results suggest that 24S-OHC induces neuronal cell death by necroptosis, a form of programmed necrosis.     

Nrf2 Signaling Pathway Mediates the Antioxidative Effects of Taurine Against Corticosterone-Induced Cell Death in HUMAN SK-N-SH Cells

Substantial evidence has shown that elevated circulating corticosteroids or chronic stress contributes to neuronal cell death, cognitive and mental disorders. However, the underlying mechanism is still unclear. Taurine is considered to protect neuronal cells from apoptotic cell death in neurodegenerative diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders. In the present study, the protective effects of taurine against corticosterone (CORT)-induced oxidative damage in SK-N-SH neuronal cells were investigated. The results showed that CORT significantly induced cell death, which was blocked by pretreatment with taurine. Similarly, pretreatment with taurine suppressed CORT-induced apoptotic cell death decreasing the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species and improving mitochondrial function. Pretreatment with taurine increased the expression of phosphorylated extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK) as well as the nuclear translocation of nuclear factor (erythroid 2-derived)-like 2 (Nrf2) in the CORT rich environment. Furthermore, administration of the ERK inhibitor U0126 or transient (siRNA) silencing of Nrf2 blocked the protective effects of taurine on cell viability and expression levels of Nrf2 and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in the CORT model of neuronal damage. These results suggest that the Nrf2 signaling pathway may play a role in the protection mechanism of taurine against CORT-induced neuronal oxidative damage.     

Astroglial trophic support and neuronal cell death: influence of cellular energy level on type of cell death induced by mitochondrial toxin in cultured rat cortical neurons

Previous in vivo and in vitro analyses have shown that both necrosis and apoptosis are involved in neuronal cell death induced by energy impairment caused by mitochondrial dysfunction. However, little is known about the key factors that determine whether the cells undergo necrosis or apoptosis. In the present study, we analyzed neuronal cell death induced by 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP), an irreversible inhibitor of mitochondrial complex II, in a primary culture system of rat cortical neurons. The neurons were maintained for a week in coculture with astroglial cells, and then they were treated with 3-NP in the presence or absence of astroglial cells. As judged from morphological (Hoechst 33258 staining) and biochemical (DNA fragmentation and caspase activation) analyses, the cortical neurons appeared to die through an apoptotic process after 3-NP treatment in the presence of astroglial cells. However, caspase inhibitors did not suppress the 3-NP-induced cell death, suggesting the involvement of a caspase-independent pathway of 3-NP-induced neuronal cell death in the presence of astroglial cells. On the other hand, 3-NP induced necrotic cell death within 1 day in the absence of astroglial cells, following a rapid decrease in intracellular ATP level. These changes were attenuated by the presence of astroglial cells or the addition of astroglial conditioned medium. These results suggest that astroglial trophic support influences the alteration of the intracellular energy state in 3-NP-treated neurons and consequently determines the type of neuronal cell death, apoptosis or necrosis.     

电针和碱性成纤维生长因子(bFGF)对脑缺血时神经细胞的保护作用

采用暂时性脑缺血再灌注大鼠模型,及H＆E、TUNEL细胞染色等实验技术,观察电针或碱性成纤维生长因子,以及两者合用对缺血性神经细胞死亡的影响。实验结果表明,电针与碱性成纤维生长因子合用与单纯使用电针或碱性成纤维生长因子相比,可明显减少暂时性脑缺血再灌注后神经细胞坏死和凋亡。提示碱性成纤维生长因子与电针可具有互补或加强的神经保护作用。两者合用具有一定的临床实际价值。     

Oxidative Stress Induces a Form of Programmed Cell Death with Characteristics of Both Apoptosis and Necrosis in Neuronal Cells

Abstract: Oxidative stress is implicated in a number of neurological disorders including stroke, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. To study the effects of oxidative stress on neuronal cells, we have used an immortalized mouse hippocampal cell line (HT-22) that is particularly sensitive to glutamate. In these cells, glutamate competes for cystine uptake, leading to a reduction in glutathione and, ultimately, cell death. As it has been reported that protein kinase C activation inhibits glutamate toxicity in these cells and is also associated with the inhibition of apoptosis in other cell types, we asked if glutamate toxicity was via apoptosis. Morphologically, glutamate-treated cells underwent plasma membrane blebbing and cell shrinkage, but no DNA fragmentation was observed. At the ultrastructural level, there was damage to mitochondria and other organelles although the nuclei remained intact. Protein and RNA synthesis inhibitors as well as certain protease inhibitors protected the cells from glutamate toxicity. Both the macromolecular synthesis inhibitors and the protease inhibitors had to be added relatively soon after the addition of glutamate, suggesting that protein synthesis and protease activation are early and distinct steps in the cell death pathway. Thus, the oxidative stress brought about by treatment with glutamate initiates a series of events that lead to a form of cell death distinct from either necrosis or apoptosis.     

Down-regulation of ARC contributes to vulnerability of hippocampal neurons to ischemia/hypoxia

ARC is a caspase recruitment domain-containing molecule that plays an important role in the regulation of apoptosis. We examined ARC expression during neuronal cell death following ischemic injury in vivo and in vitro. After exposure to transient global ischemic conditions, the expression of ARC was substantially reduced in the CA1 region of hippocampus in a time-dependent manner with concomitant increase of TUNEL-positive cells. Quantitative analysis using Western blotting exhibited that most of ARC protein disappeared in the cultured hippocampal neurons exposed to hypoxia for 12 h and showing 60% cell viability. Forced expression of ARC in the primary cultures of hippocampal neurons or B103 neuronal cells significantly reduced hypoxia-induced cell death. Further, the C-terminal P/E rich region of ARC was effective to attenuate hypoxic insults. These results suggest that down-regulation of ARC expression in hippocampal neurons may contribute to neuronal death induced by ischemia/hypoxia.