Calpain activation and apoptosis in motor neurons of cultured adult mouse spinal cord

Momeni, Hamid Reza and Azadi, Seifollah and Kanje, Martin (2007) Calpain activation and apoptosis in motor neurons of cultured adult mouse spinal cord. Functional Neurology; New Trends in Interventional Neurosciences, 22 (2). pp. 105-110. ISSN 1971-3274

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Abstract

Calpain, a Ca2+-dependent cysteine protease, has been implicated in neuronal apoptosis following spinal cord injury. In this study, activation of calpain was investigated in motor neurons of adult spinal cord slices from the mouse, using a cell-permeable fluorogenic calpain substrate and Western blotting. Calpain was rapidly activated in the motor neurons of excised spinal cord slices and calpain activity was observed both in the cytoplasm and the nuclei. In these neurons, nuclear and chromatin condensation were pronounced. Both calpain inhibitor VI and EGTA (ethyleneglycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether) N´,N´,N´,N´-tetraacetic acid) inhibited calpain activation and subsequent appearance of apoptotic nuclei. In contrast, the general caspase inhibitor Z-VAD.fmk had no effect. Calpain activation was also observed in the slices by Western blotting using an antibody to 150-kD calpain-cleaved a-fodrin fragment. These results show that calpain is rapidly activated in injured motor neurons and imply that this activation could be responsible for execution of caspase-independent apoptosis in injured adult motor neurons

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Apoptosis, calpain, caspase, motor neurons, organ culture, spinal cord
Subjects:	600 Tecnologia - Scienze applicate > 610 Medicina e salute (Classificare qui la tecnologia dei servizi medici) > 616 Malattie (classificare qui la Clinica medica, la medicina basata sull'evidenza, la Medicina interna, la Medicina sperimentale) > 616.8 Malattie del sistema nervoso e disturbi mentali (Classificare qui la Neuropsichiatria, la Neurologia)
Depositing User:	Danilo Dezzi
Date Deposited:	17 Feb 2012 13:17
Last Modified:	17 Feb 2012 13:17
URI:	http://eprints.bice.rm.cnr.it/id/eprint/3721

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