Activity-dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP)-derived peptide (NAP) ameliorates hypobaric hypoxia induced oxidative stress in rat brain

Unraveling the Triad: Hypoxia, Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Neurodegenerative Disorders

The mammalian brain's complete dependence on oxygen for ATP production makes it highly susceptible to hypoxia, at high altitudes or in clinical scenarios including anemia or pulmonary disease. Hypoxia plays a crucial role in the development of various brain disorders, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other age-related neurodegenerative diseases. On the other hand, a decrease in environmental oxygen levels, such as prolonged stays at high elevations, may have beneficial impacts on the process of ageing and the likelihood of death. Additionally, the utilization of controlled hypoxia exposure could potentially serve as a therapeutic approach for age-related brain diseases. Recent findings indicate that the involvement of HIF-1α and the NLRP3 inflammasome is of significant importance in the development of Alzheimer's disease. HIF-1α serves as a pivotal controller of various cellular reactions to oxygen deprivation, exerting influence on a multitude of physiological mechanisms such as energy metabolism and inflammatory responses. The NLRP3 plays a crucial role in the innate immune system by coordinating the initiation of inflammatory reactions through the assembly of the inflammasome complex. This review examines the information pertaining to the contrasting effects of hypoxia on the brain, highlighting both its positive and deleterious effects and molecular pathways that are involved in mediating these different effects. This study explores potential strategies for therapeutic intervention that focus on restoring cellular balance and reducing neuroinflammation, which are critical aspects in addressing this severe neurodegenerative condition and addresses crucial inquiries that warrant further future investigations.

Natural Plant Materials as a Source of Neuroprotective Peptides

In many circumstances, some crucial elements of the neuronal defense system fail, slowly leading to neurodegenerative diseases. Activating this natural process by administering exogenous agents to counteract unfavourable changes seems promising. Therefore, looking for neuroprotective therapeutics, we have to focus on compounds that inhibit the primary mechanisms leading to neuronal injuries, e.g., apoptosis, excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, and inflammation. Among many compounds considered neuroprotective agents, protein hydrolysates and peptides derived from natural materials or their synthetic analogues are good candidates. They have several advantages, such as high selectivity and biological activity, a broad range of targets, and high safety profile. This review aims to provide biological activities, the mechanism of action and the functional properties of plant-derived protein hydrolysates and peptides. We focused on their significant role in human health by affecting the nervous system and having neuroprotective and brain-boosting properties, leading to memory and cognitive improving activities. We hope our observation may guide the evaluation of novel peptides with potential neuroprotective effects. Research into neuroprotective peptides may find application in different sectors as ingredients in functional foods or pharmaceuticals to improve human health and prevent diseases.

Neuroprotective effect of the PACAP-ADNP axis on SOD1G93A mutant motor neuron death induced by trophic factors deprivation

Amyotrophic lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive degeneration of motor neurons in the central nervous system. Mutations in the gene encoding Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) account for approximately in 20% of familial ALS cases. The pathological mechanisms underlying the toxicity induced by mutated SOD1 are still unknown. However, it has been hypothesized that oxidative stress (OS) has a crucial role in motor neuron degeneration in ALS patients. Moreover, it has been described that SOD1 mutation interferes expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a protective key modulator against OS and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation. The protective effect of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP) has been demonstrated in various neurological disorders, including ALS. Some of its effects are mediated by the stimulation of an intracellular factor known as activity-dependent protein (ADNP). The role of PACAP-ADNP axis on mutated SOD1 motor neuron degeneration has not been explored, yet. The present study aimed to investigate whether PACAP prevented apoptotic cell death induced by growth factor deprivation through ADNP activation and whether the peptidergic axis can counteract the OS insult. By using an in vitro model of ALS, we demonstrated that PACAP by binding to PAC1 receptor (PAC1R) prevented motor neuron death induced by serum deprivation through induction of the ADNP expression via PKC stimulation. Furthermore, we have also demonstrated that the PACAP/ADNP axis counteracted ROS formation by inducing translocation of the Nfr2 from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. In conclusion, our study provides new insights regarding the protective role of PACAP-ADNP in ALS.

Keratin 18 Depletion as a Possible Mechanism for the Induction of Apoptosis and Ferroptosis in the Rat Hippocampus After Hypobaric Hypoxia

Memory impairment is one of the neuropsychological effects of hypobaric hypoxia (HH), which can be associated with programmed cell death, such as apoptosis and ferroptosis. Emerging evidence indicates crosstalk between apoptosis and ferroptosis, while the crosstalk between HH-induced apoptosis and ferroptosis in the hippocampus has not been clarified. Here, microarray profiles were extracted to analyze the differentially expressed genes with and without HH exposure, and keratin 18 (Krt18) was found to be a potential gene related to both apoptosis and ferroptosis. Then, we conducted morphological observations that showed that apoptosis and ferroptosis coexisted in the rat hippocampus after HH exposure. Combined with the real-time q-PCR analysis, the mRNA expression of Krt18 decreased significantly after HH exposure for 1 day and 3 days, and Mapk10 (JNK3) was upregulated at the corresponding time points. After exposure for 7 days, Krt18 and JNK3 showed no significant change. In conclusion, Krt18 may regulate apoptosis and ferroptosis simultaneously, possibly via the JNK signaling pathway, which might provide a potential central target for apoptosis and ferroptosis in hippocampal injury after HH exposure.

Whether short peptides are good candidates for future neuroprotective therapeutics?

Neurodegenerative diseases are a broad group of largely debilitating, and ultimately terminal conditions resulting in progressive degeneration of different brain regions. The observed damages are associated with cell death, structural and functional deficits of neurons, or demyelination. The concept of neuroprotection concerns the administration of the agent, which should reverse some of the damage or prevent further adverse changes. A growing body of evidence suggested that among many classes of compounds considered as neuroprotective agents, peptides derived from natural materials or their synthetic analogs are good candidates. They presented a broad spectrum of activities and abilities to act through diverse mechanisms of action. Biologically active peptides have many properties, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. Peptides with pro-survival and neuroprotective activities, associated with inhibition of oxidative stress, apoptosis, inflammation and are able to improve cell viability or mitochondrial functions, are also promising molecules of particular interest to the pharmaceutical industries. Peptide multiple activities open the way for broad application potential as therapeutic agents or ingredients of health-promoting functional foods. Significantly, synthetic peptides can be remodeled in numerous ways to have desired features, such as increased solubility or biological stability, as well as selectivity towards a specific receptor, and finally better membrane penetration. This review summarized the most common features of major neurodegenerative disorders, their causes, consequences, and reported new neuroprotective drug development approaches. The author focused on the unique perspectives in neuroprotection and provided a concise survey of short peptides proposed as novel therapeutic agents against various neurodegenerative diseases.

Crosstalk between the mTOR and Nrf2/ARE signaling pathways as a target in the improvement of long-term potentiation

In recent years, a significant progress was made in understanding molecular mechanisms of long-term memory. Long-term memory formation requires strengthening of neuronal connections (LTP, long-term potentiation) associated with structural rearrangement of neurons. The key role in the synthesis of proteins essential for these rearrangements belong to mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) complexes and signaling pathways involved in mTOR regulation. Suppression of mTOR activity may impair synaptic plasticity and long-term memory, while mTOR activation inhibits autophagy, thereby potentiating amyloidosis and development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) accompanied by irreversible memory loss. Because of this, suppression/inhibition of mTOR might have unpredictable consequences on memory. The Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway affects almost all mitochondrial processes. The activation of this pathway improves memory and exhibits therapeutic effect in AD. In this review, we discuss the crosstalk between the Nrf2/ARE signaling and mTOR in the maintenance of synaptic plasticity. Nrf2 pathway can be activated by pharmacological agents and by changes in mitochondria functioning accompanying various neuronal dysfunctions.

Protective effects of two novel nitronyl nitroxide radicals on heart failure induced by hypobaric hypoxia

AIMS

Hypobaric hypoxia (HH), linked to oxidative stress, impairs cardiac function. We synthesized a novel nitronyl nitroxide radical, an HPN derivative (HEPN) and investigated the protective effects of HEPN and HPN against HH-induced heart injury in mice and the underlying mechanisms of action.

MAIN METHODS

Mice were administered with HPN (200 mg/kg) or HEPN (200 mg/kg) 30 min before exposed to HH. The cardiac function was measured. Serum AST, CK, LDH and cTnI were estimated. Heart tissue oxidase activity, SOD, CAT, GSH-Px, ROS and MDA were estimated. ATP content, Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase and Ca²⁺/Mg²⁺-ATPase activity was measured. The expression of HIF-1, VEGF, Nrf2, HO-1, Bax, Bcl-2, Caspase-3 was estimated.

KEY FINDINGS

Results showed that pretreatment with HEPN or HPN led to a dramatic decrease in the activity of biochemical markers AST, CK, LDH and cTnI in murine serum. They increased the activity of SOD, CAT and GSH-Px and reduced the level of ROS and MDA in the hearts of mice. HEPN and HPN could increase the expression of Nrf2 and OH-1. They could maintain the ATPase activity. The Bax and Caspase-3 expression as well as the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 were significantly downregulated and the Bcl-2 expression was upregulated by HPN or HEPN compared to the HH group. They may attenuate the HH-induced oxidant stress via free radical scavenging activity.

SIGNIFICANCE

The present study showed that the nitronyl nitroxide radical HEPN and HPN may be potential therapeutic agents for treatment of HH-induced cardiac dysfunction.

Evaluation of intranasal delivery route of drug administration for brain targeting

The acute or chronic drug treatments for different neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders are challenging from several aspects. The low bioavailability and limited brain exposure of oral drugs, the rapid metabolism, elimination, the unwanted side effects and also the high dose to be added mean both inconvenience for the patients and high costs for the patients, their family and the society. The reason of low brain penetration of the compounds is that they have to overcome the blood-brain barrier which protects the brain against xenobiotics. Intranasal drug administration is one of the promising options to bypass blood-brain barrier, to reduce the systemic adverse effects of the drugs and to lower the doses to be administered. Furthermore, the drugs administered using nasal route have usually higher bioavailability, less side effects and result in higher brain exposure at similar dosage than the oral drugs. In this review the focus is on giving an overview on the anatomical and cellular structure of nasal cavity and absorption surface. It presents some possibilities to enhance the drug penetration through the nasal barrier and summarizes some in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo technologies to test the drug delivery across the nasal epithelium into the brain. Finally, the authors give a critical evaluation of the nasal route of administration showing its main advantages and limitations of this delivery route for CNS drug targeting.

Diagnosis and prophylaxis for high-altitude acclimatization: Adherence to molecular rationale to evade high-altitude illnesses

Lack of zero side-effect, prescription-less prophylactics and diagnostic markers of acclimatization status lead to many suffering from high altitude illnesses. Although not fully translated to the clinical setting, many strategies and interventions are being developed that are aimed at providing an objective and tangible answer regarding the acclimatization status of an individual as well as zero side-effect prophylaxis that is cost-effective and does not require medical supervision. This short review brings together the twin problems associated with high-altitude acclimatization, i.e. acclimatization status and zero side-effect, easy-to-use prophylaxis, for the reader to comprehend as cogs of the same phenomenon. We describe current research aimed at preventing all the high-altitude illnesses by considering them an assault on redox and energy homeostasis at the molecular level. This review also entails some proteins capable of diagnosing either acclimatization or high-altitude illnesses. The future strategies based on bioinformatics and systems biology is also discussed.

Ganglioside GM1 protects against high altitude cerebral edema in rats by suppressing the oxidative stress and inflammatory response via the PI3K/AKT-Nrf2 pathway

High altitude cerebral edema (HACE) is a severe type of acute mountain sickness (AMS) that occurs in response to a high altitude hypobaric hypoxic (HH) environment. GM1 monosialoganglioside can alleviate brain injury under adverse conditions including amyloid-β-peptide, ischemia and trauma. However, its role in HACE-induced brain damage remains poorly elucidated. In this study, GM1 supplementation dose-dependently attenuated increase in rat brain water content (BWC) induced by hypobaric chamber (7600 m) exposurefor 24 h. Compared with the HH-treated group, rats injected with GM1 exhibited less brain vascular leakage, lower aquaporin-4 and higher occludin expression, but they also showed increase in Na+/K+-ATPase pump activities. Importantly, HH-incurred consciousness impairment and coordination loss also were ameliorated following GM1 administration. Furthermore, the increased oxidative stress and decrease in anti-oxidant stress system under the HH condition were also reversely abrogated by GM1 treatment via suppressing accumulation of ROS, MDA and elevating the levels of SOD and GSH. Simultaneously, GM1 administration also counteracted the enhanced inflammation in HH-exposed rats by muting pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels in serum and brain tissues. Subsequently, GM1 potentiated the activation of the PI3K/AKT-Nrf2 pathway. Cessation of this pathway by LY294002 reversed GM1-mediated inhibitory effects on oxidative stress and inflammation, and ultimately abrogated the protective role of GM1 in abating brain edema, cognitive and motor dysfunction. Overall, GM1 may afford a protective intervention in HACE by suppressing oxidative stress and inflammatory response via activating the PI3K/AKT-Nrf2 pathway, implying a promising agent for the treatment of HACE.

Nose-to-brain peptide delivery - The potential of nanotechnology

Nose-to-brain (N-to-B) delivery offers to protein and peptide drugs the possibility to reach the brain in a non-invasive way. This article is a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art of this emerging peptide delivery route, as well as of the challenges associated to it. Emphasis is given on the potential of nanosized drug delivery carriers to enhance the direct N-to-B transport of protein or peptide drugs. In particular, polymer- and lipid- based nanocarriers are comparatively analyzed in terms of the influence of their physicochemical characteristics and composition on their in vivo fate and efficacy. The use of biorecognitive ligands and permeation enhancers in order to enhance their brain targeting efficiency is also discussed. The article concludes highlighting the early stage of this research field and its still unveiled potential. The final message is that more explicatory PK/PD studies are required in order to achieve the translation from preclinical to the clinical development phase.

The meta-analytical paradigm in an in silico hybrid: Pathways and networks perturbed during exposure to varying degrees of hypobaric hypoxia

PURPOSE

Computational biology has opened a gateway to omics data analysis and shifted the focus from molecules to systemic molecular networks in the domain of hypobaric hypoxia (HH). Yet there are no meta-analytical investigations circumventing constraints such as organism (rat/human), HH exposure conditions (acute/chronic), and the tissues that can be investigated simultaneously in the realm of wet lab experiments.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

We analyzed 154 differentially expressed proteins upon HH exposure using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) tool, without the constraint of using a single organism or tissue type, to determine the most significant pathways and networks that are perturbed across a range of HH conditions.

RESULTS

We found acute phase response signaling, farsenoid X receptor/retinoid X receptor activation, liver X receptor/retinoid X receptor activation, clathrin-mediated endocytosis signaling, mitochondrial dysfunction, production of nitric oxide and ROS in macrophages, and integrin signaling to be the most significant universally perturbed pathways. Unique protein-function relationships have also been highlighted.

CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

This meta-analysis provides a list of specific pathways and networks across two model organisms that are perturbed due to HH exposure irrespective of its duration/intensity. Thus, it will be a map of important pathways and proteins to look at when exploring effects of HH exposure irrespective of tissue/organism chosen, particularly in the context of prophylactic/therapeutic targets.

Impairment of mitochondria dynamics by human A53T α-synuclein and rescue by NAP (davunetide) in a cell model for Parkinson's disease

The formation of oligomers and aggregates of overexpressed or mutant α-synuclein play a role in the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease by causing dysfunction of mitochondria, reflected in their disturbed mobility and production of ROS. The mode of action and mechanisms underlying this mitochondrial impairment is still unclear. We have induced stable expression of wild-type, A30P or A53T α-synuclein in neuronally differentiated SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells and studied anterograde and retrograde mitochondrial trafficking in this cell model for Parkinson's disease. In contrast to wild-type and A30P, A53T α-synuclein significantly inhibited mitochondrial trafficking, at first retrogradely and in a later stage anterogradely. Accordingly, A53T α-synuclein also caused the highest increase in ROS production in the dysmobilized mitochondria in comparison to wild-type or A30P α-synuclein. Treatment with NAP, the eight amino acid peptide identified as the active component of activity-dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP), completely annihilated the adverse effects of A53T on mitochondrial dynamics. Our results reveal that A53T α-synuclein (oligomers or aggregates) leads to the inhibition of mitochondrial trafficking, which can be rescued by NAP, suggesting the involvement of microtubule disruption in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease.

Letter: Mass spectrometric evidence for iron binding to the neuroprotective peptide NAP and its Cys5 mutant

The NAP peptide (H(2)N-(1)NAPVSIPQ(8)-CONH(2)) is a truncated version of the activity-dependent neuroprotective protein. Its neuroprotective activities consist of the inhibition of Aβ(25-35) and Aβ(1-40) fibrillogenesis as well as protection against Aβ-induced neurotoxicity and prevention of microtubule disruption associated with Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, we synthesized NAP and its mutant peptide with the sequence: H(2)N-(1)NAPVCIPQ(8)-COOH (NAPCOH), by replacing serine S(5) with cysteine C(5). Both native and mutant peptides were further used to study their interaction with iron ions. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and also atomic force microscopy were used to probe Fe(3+) binding to both peptides. Contrary to the expected results, the investigated peptides underwent different oxidation processes, with resultant reduced Fe(2+) ions. These ions, and not the original Fe(3+) ions, were found to bind to each of non-oxidized peptides.

Intranasal gene delivery for treating Parkinson's disease: overcoming the blood-brain barrier

INTRODUCTION

Developing a disease-modifying gene therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD) has been a high priority for over a decade. However, due to the inability of large biomolecules to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), the only means of delivery to the brain has been intracerebral infusion. Intranasal administration offers a non-surgical means of bypassing the BBB to deliver neurotrophic factors, and the genes encoding them, directly to the brain.

AREAS COVERED

This review summarizes: i) evidence demonstrating intranasal delivery to the brain of a number of biomolecules having therapeutic potential for various CNS disorders; and ii) evidence demonstrating neuroprotective efficacy of a subset of biomolecules specifically for PD. The intersection of these two spheres represents the area of opportunity for development of new intranasal gene therapies for PD. To that end, our laboratory showed that intranasal administration of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), or plasmid DNA nanoparticles encoding GDNF, provides neuroprotection in a rat model of PD, and that the cells transfected by the nanoparticle vector are likely to be pericytes.

EXPERT OPINION

A number of genes encoding neurotrophic factors have therapeutic potential for PD, but few have been tested by the intranasal route and shown to be neuroprotective in a model of PD. Intranasal delivery provides a largely unexplored, promising approach for development of a non-invasive gene therapy for PD.

Protein profiling reveals antioxidant and signaling activities of NAP (Davunetide) in rodent hippocampus exposed to hypobaric hypoxia

NAP (davunetide) is a clinical octapeptide and reportedly possesses neuroprotective, neurotrophic and cognitive protective properties. The information for NAP-mediated neuroproteome changes and associated signaling pathways during hypoxia will help in drug development programmes across the world. In the present study, we have evaluated the antioxidant activities of NAP in rat hippocampus exposed to hypobaric hypoxia (25,000 ft, 282 mm Hg) for 3, 6 and 12 h respectively. Using 2D-gel electrophoresis (2D-GE) with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF/TOF) mass spectrometry, we have identified altered expression of 80 proteins in NAP-supplemented hippocampus after hypoxia. Pathway analysis revealed that NAP supplementation significantly regulated oxidative stress response, oxidoreductase activity and cellular response to stress pathways during hypoxia. Additionally, NAP supplementation also regulated energy production pathways along with AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling and signaling by Rho family GTPases pathways. We observed higher expression of antioxidant Sod1, Eno1, Prdx2 and Prdx5 proteins that were subsequently validated by Western blotting. A higher level of Prdx2 was also observed by immunohistochemistry in NAP-supplemented hippocampus during hypoxia. In corroboration, we are able to detect significant lower level of protein carbonyls in NAP-supplemented hypoxic hippocampus suggesting amelioration of oxidant molecules by NAP supplementation. These results emphasize the antioxidant and signaling properties of NAP in rodent hippocampus during hypobaric hypoxia.

Neurotropic and neuroprotective activities of the earthworm peptide Lumbricusin

We recently isolated a polypeptide from the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris that is structurally similar to defensin, a well-known antibacterial peptide. An 11-mer antibacterial peptide (NH2-RNRRWCIDQQA), designated Lumbricusin, was synthesized based on the amino acid sequence of the isolated polypeptide. Since we previously reported that CopA3, a dung beetle peptide, enhanced neuronal cell proliferation, we here examined whether Lumbricusin exerted neurotropic and/or neuroprotective effects. Lumbricusin treatment induced a time-dependent increase (∼51%) in the proliferation of human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. Lumbricusin also significantly inhibited the apoptosis and decreased viability induced by treatment with 6-hydroxy dopamine, a Parkinson's disease-mimicking agent. Immunoblot analyses revealed that Lumbricusin treatment increased ubiquitination of p27(Kip1) protein, a negative regulator of cell-cycle progression, in SH-SY5Y cells, and markedly promoted its degradation. Notably, adenoviral-mediated over-expression of p27(Kip1) significantly blocked the antiapoptotic effect of Lumbricusin in 6-hydroxy dopamine-treated SH-SY5Y cells. These results suggest that promotion of p27(Kip1) degradation may be the main mechanism underlying the neuroprotective and neurotropic effects of Lumbricusin.

Involvement of the different extracts from roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge on acute hypobaric hypoxia-induced cardiovascular effects in rats--preliminary report

The present study was carried out to investigate the protective effects of roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge on hypobaric hypoxia. Two extracts of S. miltiorrhiza (extract 1: ethanol : water - 50 : 50; extract 2: 96% ethanol) were used. The experiments were performed after 7 consecutive days of administration of the extracts (200 mg/kg b.w., intragastrically) to male Wistar rats. Next, after placing animals for 60 min in the controlled acute hypobaric hypoxia (500 mm Hg) the systolic arterial blood pressure (SAP) in conscious rats, bioelectric heart activity in unconscious rats and analysis of oxidative stress parameters in the blood of rats: malonyldialdehyde (MDA) and lipid peroxidase (LPO) concentration, activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) or glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were assayed. It was found out that the extract 1 augmented the lowering of SAP shown in hypoxia affected control rats. On the contrary the extract 2 reversed SAP to values obtained in control animals. Moreover, both extracts led to the normalization of hypoxia-induced tachycardia and levels of MDA, LPO and SOD. It seems that the above-mentioned effects are coupled with different active compounds content in the extracts, however more studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis.

Comparative proteome analysis reveals differential regulation of glycolytic and antioxidant enzymes in cortex and hippocampus exposed to short-term hypobaric hypoxia

Hypoxia is one of the major stressors at high altitude. Exposure to hypobaric hypoxia induces several adverse consequences to the structural and functional integrity of brain. In an attempt to understand the proteome modulation, we used 2-DE coupled with MALDI-TOF/TOF for cortex and hippocampus exposed to short-term temporal (0, 3, 6, 12 and 24h) hypobaric hypoxia. This enabled us in the identification of 88 and 73 hypoxia responsive proteins in cortex and hippocampus respectively. We further compared the proteomes of both the regions and identified 37 common proteins along with 49 and 32 specific proteins for cortex and hippocampus respectively. We observed significant up-regulation of glycolytic enzymes like Gapdh, Pgam1, Eno1 and malate-aspartate shuttle enzymes Mdh1 and Got1in cortex as compared to hippocampus deciphering efficient use of energy producing substrates. This was coupled with concomitant increase in expression of antioxidant enzymes like Sod1, Sod2 and Pebp1 in cortex to neutralize the hypoxia-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Our comparative proteomics studies demonstrate that efficient use of energy generating pathways in conjugation with abundance of antioxidant enzymes makes cortex less vulnerable to hypoxia than hippocampus.

Intermittent hypobaric hypoxia induces neuroprotection in kainate-induced oxidative stress in rats

Severe hypoxia induces oxidative stress, which can lead to brain injury. In this study, we wanted to determine whether intermittent hypobaric hypoxia induces oxidative stress in the brain. In adult rats exposed to 380 mmHg in a hypobaric chamber for 3 h/day for 6 days, we determined the levels of malondialdehyde and nitric oxide derivatives in the brain, which indicated that there was no oxidative stress. The levels of N-acetylaspartate indicated that there was no neuronal loss or mitochondrial dysfunction and finally because apoptotic proteins such as caspase-3 and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) were not activated, apoptosis was probably not induced. The increase in the expression of erythropoietin (EPO) in the brain of rats exposed to hypoxia confirms the efficacy of the method used to induce hypoxia in the brain. Because EPO have antioxidant effects on the brain, the results suggest that intermittent hypoxia can increase the antioxidant capacity of the brain. This effect of intermittent hypoxia was studied using the systemic administration of kainate, as a model of brain oxidative stress. Kainate treatment induces oxidative stress in the brain, which is measured by an increase in lipid peroxidation and nitric oxide. Furthermore, in rats treated with kainate, both caspase-3 and NF-κB activity increased. However, in rats previously exposed to intermittent hypobaric hypoxia, 3 h per day for 6 days, the effect of kainate treatment resulted in the reduction of both oxidative stress and apoptotic activity. This study demonstrates that intermittent hypobaric hypoxia can increase brain antioxidant capacity in rats and induces neuroprotection in kainate-induced oxidative injury.

Redox biology of exercise: an integrative and comparative consideration of some overlooked issues

The central aim of this review is to address the highly multidisciplinary topic of redox biology as related to exercise using an integrative and comparative approach rather than focusing on blood, skeletal muscle or humans. An attempt is also made to re-define ‘oxidative stress’ as well as to introduce the term ‘alterations in redox homeostasis’ to describe changes in redox homeostasis indicating oxidative stress, reductive stress or both. The literature analysis shows that the effects of non-muscle-damaging exercise and muscle-damaging exercise on redox homeostasis are completely different. Non-muscle-damaging exercise induces alterations in redox homeostasis that last a few hours post exercise, whereas muscle-damaging exercise causes alterations in redox homeostasis that may persist for and/or appear several days post exercise. Both exhaustive maximal exercise lasting only 30 s and isometric exercise lasting 1–3 min (the latter activating in addition a small muscle mass) induce systemic oxidative stress. With the necessary modifications, exercise is capable of inducing redox homeostasis alterations in all fluids, cells, tissues and organs studied so far, irrespective of strains and species. More importantly, ‘exercise-induced oxidative stress’ is not an ‘oddity’ associated with a particular type of exercise, tissue or species. Rather, oxidative stress constitutes a ubiquitous fundamental biological response to the alteration of redox homeostasis imposed by exercise. The hormesis concept could provide an interpretative framework to reconcile differences that emerge among studies in the field of exercise redox biology. Integrative and comparative approaches can help determine the interactions of key redox responses at multiple levels of biological organization.