Mitochondrial mechanisms of neurotoxicity.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to W J Nicklas.
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Antagonists of 4 distinct regulatory sites on the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor were tested for their ability to attenuate NMDA-mediated acute excitotoxicity in isolated chick retina of various embryonic ages between days 11 and 19 in ovo. Acute excitotoxicity was monitored by histology and by release of endogenous gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) into the medium during 30 min of incubation with 50 microM NMDA. The uncompetitive PCP channel site antagonist, MK-801, the competitive antagonist, CGS 19755, and the strychnine-insensitive glycine site antagonist, 7-chlorokynurenate, completely blocked NMDA-induced cell swelling and increased GABA release at all ages tested. Potencies versus NMDA were MK-801 greater than CGS 19755 greater than 7-chlorokynurenate with IC50S of 0.02, 0.62, and 15 microM, respectively. NMDA antagonism by the polyamine site antagonist, ifenprodil, differed from other classes of antagonists in several respects. At the earlier embryonic ages tested (E12-13) ifenprodil provided differential protection; completely blocking somal and neuritic swelling in most but not all inner nuclear layer neurons and inner plexiform processes. In dose-response studies, ifenprodil attenuated the NMDA-induced increase in medium GABA at all ages tested with an Imax of 10 microM. Ifenprodil, however, showed a decreased ability to completely protect some NMDA-sensitive neurons. This was reflected both histologically and by GABA release. Maximal attenuation of NMDA evoked GABA release was 83, 80, 62 and 50% at days E12, 13, 15 and 19, respectively. Histologically, differential protection was seen at E12 and 13, in limited areas at E15, and was no longer present at E19.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
In this study, the importance of the Mg2+ blockade of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor during metabolic stress was examined in embryonic day 13 chick retina. Retina exposed to mild conditions of metabolic stress (i.e., blockade of glycolysis with 1 mM iodoacetate for 30 min) underwent acute histological somal and neuritic swelling and an increase in gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) release into the medium. These acute signs of metabolic stress were eliminated by NMDA antagonists present during pharmacological blockade of glycolysis, occurred in the absence of a net increase in extracellular glutamate or aspartate, and were not affected by the presence or absence of Ca2+ in the incubation medium. One possible explanation for the activation of NMDA receptors in the absence of an increase in extracellular ligand is that NMDA sensitivity during metabolic stress may be governed at the receptor level. Depolarization of membrane potential during metabolic stress may result in the loss of the Mg2+ blockade from the NMDA receptor channel, resulting in an increased potency for glutamate. To test this, the dose-response characteristics for NMDA, glutamate, and kainate in the presence or absence of extracellular Mg2+ and the effects of Mg2+ on metabolic inhibition were examined. The potency for NMDA- or glutamate-mediated acute toxicity was enhanced two- to fivefold in the absence of Mg2+. Omission of Mg2+ greatly decreased the minimal concentration of agonist needed to produce acute excitotoxicity; 25 versus 5 microM for NMDA and 300 versus 10 microM for glutamate in 1.2 or zero Mg2+, respectively. Elevating external Mg2+ to 20 mM completely protected against NMDA-mediated acute toxic effects. In contrast, varying external Mg2+ had no effect on kainate-induced toxicity. Acute toxicity caused by inhibition of metabolism was not potentiated in the absence of Mg2+ but was attenuated by elevating extracellular Mg2+. The protective effect of Mg2+ during metabolic inhibition was not additive with NMDA antagonists, suggesting that the action of Mg2+ was at the level of the NMDA receptor. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the Mg2+ block is lifted during metabolic inhibition and may be the primary event resulting in NMDA receptor activation.
The effects of 1-methyl-4-(2'-ethylphenyl)-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (2'Et-MPTP), 1-methyl-4-(2'-ethylphenyl)pyridinium (2'Et-MPP+), and the classic complex 1 inhibitor, rotenone, on toxicity as well as on rates of glucose use and lactate production were studied using the pheochromocytoma PC12 cell line. PC12 cells are neoplastic in nature and have a high rate of glycolysis accompanied by a large production of lactate and a low use of glucose carbon through the Krebs cycle. 1-Methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) and analogues such as 2'Et-MPP+ are actively accumulated by mitochondrial preparations in vitro and block NADH dehydrogenase of complex 1. This blockade results in biochemical sequelae that are ultimately cytotoxic. In this study, untreated PC12 cells used glucose and concomitantly accumulated lactate in a time-dependent manner at all concentrations of glucose studied. Treatment with 50 microM 2'Et-MPP+ or 50 nM rotenone increased both rates significantly, indicating a shift toward increased glycolysis. Cell death caused by the neurotoxins was also time and concentration dependent and markedly enhanced by glucose depletion in the medium. The increase in 2'Et-MPTP-induced toxicity in low glucose-supplemented cells was not due to an increase in pyridinium formation from the tetrahydropyridine, but rather to the lack of glucose for glycolysis. Moreover, inhibition of glycolysis with 2-deoxyglucose or iodoacetic acid also enhanced the lethality of the neurotoxins to the cells. The data in this study provide additional support to the hypothesis that 2'Et-MPP+ or related analogues act to kill cells by inhibiting mitochondrial respiration.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Glutamate metabolism in rat cortical astrocyte cultures was studied to evaluate the relative rates of flux of glutamate carbon through oxidative pathways and through glutamine synthetase (GS). Rates of 14CO2 production from [1-14C]glutamate were determined, as was the metabolic fate of [14C(U)]glutamate in the presence and absence of the transaminase inhibitor aminooxyacetic acid and of methionine sulfoximine, an irreversible inhibitor of GS. The effects of subculturing and dibutyryl cyclic AMP treatment of astrocytes on these parameters were also examined. The vast majority of exogenously added glutamate was converted to glutamine and exported into the extracellular medium. Inhibition of GS led to a sustained and greatly elevated intracellular glutamate level, thereby demonstrating the predominance of this pathway in the astrocytic metabolism of glutamate. Nevertheless, there was some glutamate oxidation in the astrocyte culture, as evidenced by aspartate production and labeling of intracellular aspartate pools. Inhibition of aspartate aminotransferase caused a greater than 70% decrease in 14CO2 production from [1-14C]glutamate. Inhibition of GS caused an increase in aspartate production. It is concluded that transamination of glutamate rather than oxidative deamination catalyzed by glutamate dehydrogenase is the first step in the entry of glutamate carbon into the citric acid cycle in cultured astrocytes. This scheme of glutamate metabolism was not qualitatively altered by subculturing or by treatment of the cultures with dibutyryl cyclic AMP.
Previous studies from this laboratory demonstrated that (+)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten-5,10-imine maleate (MK-801), an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, did not prevent neurotoxicity to dopaminergic neurons in mice produced by systemic treatment with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). However, Turski et al. [Nature 349, 414-418 (1991)] reported that extended treatment of rats with NMDA receptor antagonists (six injections at 4-h intervals) did prevent the loss of nigral dopaminergic neurons resulting from an intranigral infusion of 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+), the neurotoxic metabolite of MPTP. The present studies examined if a similar extended treatment with MK-801 would protect mice from the neurotoxicity of systemically administered MPTP. Six intraperitoneal injections of MK-801 given at 4-h intervals did not protect mice against the MPTP-induced neostriatal dopamine loss measured 1 week after treatment. In other experiments, designed to replicate and expand on the results of Turski et al. (1991), the extended treatment of rats with MK-801 did not prevent MPP(+)-induced cell loss in the infused substantia nigra pars compacta or the dopamine depletion in the ipsilateral neostriatum at 7-11 days after MPP+ infusion. These results do not support the hypothesis that NMDA receptors are involved with MPTP/MPP(+)-induced neurodegeneration.
Several analogs of 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) were evaluated for their affinity for the dopamine uptake system and their ability to inhibit NADH dehydrogenase (complex I) of the mitochondrial electron-transport chain. Moreover, these compounds were tested for their ability to cause selective dopaminergic neurotoxicity in cultured mesencephalic neurons. Simultaneous [3H]dopamine and gamma-amino-[14C]butyric acid uptake and immunocytochemical techniques were used as indices of neuronal damage in cultured cells. The compounds that were potent and selective dopaminergic neurotoxins had high affinity for the dopamine transport system, as measured by their ability to cause dopamine release, and were similar to MPP+ in inhibiting mitochondrial respiration. One compound (1-methyl-4-phenylpyrimidinium) had high affinity for the dopamine uptake system but was a weak inhibitor of mitochondrial respiration and, accordingly, was not neurotoxic. The 4'-alkylated analogs of MPP+, which were poor substrates for the dopamine uptake system and extremely potent inhibitors of mitochondrial respiration, caused a nonselective damage of neurons in culture. Analogs that were not substrates for the dopamine carrier and not inhibitors of mitochondrial respiration were not neurotoxic. This study describes the neurotoxicity of a number of analogs of MPP+ and highlights the importance of the dopamine uptake system and the ability to inhibit mitochondrial respiration as critical processes in conferring selectivity and neurotoxicity, respectively, to MPP+ and analogs, for dopaminergic neurons in culture.
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"Graded" metabolic stress was induced chemically in an ex vivo preparation of retina to examine the early events following metabolic inhibition that lead to acute toxicity. Toxicity was assessed histologically and by quantitation of endogenous gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) release. Blockade of glycolysis with iodoacetate or electron transport with potassium cyanide for 30 min ("mild" metabolic stress) produced histopathology and GABA release similar to that seen with glutamate agonist treatment. These effects were completely prevented by the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist [(+)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo (a,d)cyclohepten,5,10-imine maleate (MK-801) and occurred in the absence of any net increase in extracellular glutamate or aspartate. More "severe" compromise of metabolism (iodoacetate plus potassium cyanide for 30 min) caused greater swelling and GABA release, which was only partially attenuated by competitive or noncompetitive NMDA antagonists and was accompanied by elevations in extracellular excitatory amino acids. Temporal studies of "severe" metabolic inhibition and the rise in excitatory amino acids demonstrated that, like "mild" metabolic inhibition, the early acute pathology was mediated exclusively by the NMDA receptor and occurred before elevation in excitatory amino acids. Tetrodotoxin and 6-nitro,7-cyanoquinoxaline,2,3-dion (CNQX) had little effect per se on reducing GABA release under conditions of "severe" metabolic inhibition; however, CNQX or tetrodotoxin in combination with MK-801 afforded greater protection than did MK-801 alone. Thus, activity at kainate/AMPA receptors and voltage-sensitive Na+ channels may be additional factors contributing to acute toxicity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The efficacy of ifenprodil to antagonize N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and kainate (KA)-induced acute excitotoxicity was evaluated in embryonic day 13 chick retina. Incubation with either 50 microM NMDA or KA produced a characteristic histological lesion and release of endogenous gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Ifenprodil potently attenuated NMDA-induced GABA efflux by 80% (IC50, 1.26 microM). Histology showed protection of all but a subpopulation of amacrine neurons and processes even at 500 microM ifenprodil. MK-801 and CGS 19755, uncompetitive and competitive NMDA antagonists, respectively, protected all NMDA-sensitive amacrines, including the ifenprodil-resistant population, whilst CNQX, a non-NMDA glutamate receptor antagonist, was ineffective. Ifenprodil was less effective versus KA, requiring 10-100-fold higher concentrations to significantly attenuate GABA release. The potent antagonism of NMDA-mediated acute excitotoxicity by ifenprodil may explain its efficacy as an anti-ischemic agent. Ifenprodil does, however, leave unprotected a subpopulation of NMDA-susceptible neurons suggesting a heterogeneity in the NMDA receptor population.
1-Methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion, a major brain metabolite of the neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine, is an inhibitor of Complex I of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. We have synthesized several analogs of 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion containing various alkyl groups in the 4' position of the phenyl ring and have tested them for their abilities to inhibit the oxidation of NADH-linked substrates by intact mouse liver mitochondria. These compounds are considerably more potent inhibitors than MPP+ itself, with potency increasing as the length of the alkyl chain increases. The most potent inhibitor, 1-methyl-4-(4'heptylphenyl)pyridinium ion, was about 200 times as effective as MPP+. These analogs should prove to be useful tools for studying the nature of the process whereby MPP+ and its pyridinium analogs interact with Complex I to inhibit mitochondrial respiration.
The 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium species (MPP+) is the four-electron oxidation product of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) and is widely assumed to be the actual neurotoxic species responsible for the MPTP-induced destruction of dopaminergic neurons. MPTP is oxidized by the enzyme monoamine oxidase-B to a dihydropyridinium intermediate which is oxidized further to MPP+, an effective inhibitor of the oxidation of the Complex I substrates glutamate/malate in isolated mitochondrial preparations. In the present study, the tetraphenylboron anion (TPB) greatly potentiated the inhibitory effects of MPP+ and other selected pyridinium species on glutamate/malate respiration in isolated mouse liver mitochondria. At 10 microM TPB, the potentiation ranged from approximately 50-fold to greater than 1,000-fold for the several pyridinium species tested. In other experiments, TPB greatly enhanced the accumulation of [3H]MPP+ by isolated mitochondrial preparations. This facilitation by TPB of MPP+ accumulation into mitochondria explains, at least in part, the potentiation by TPB of the above-mentioned inhibition of mitochondrial respiration. Moreover, TPB addition increased the amount of lactate formed during the incubation of mouse neostriatal tissue slices with MPTP and other tetrahydropyridines. The administration of TPB also potentiated the dopaminergic neurotoxicity of MPTP in male Swiss-Webster mice. All of these observations, taken together, are consistent with the premise that the inhibitory effect of MPP+ on mitochondrial respiration within dopaminergic neurons is the ultimate mechanism to explain MPTP-induced neurotoxicity.
The toxicity of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), 1-methyl-4-(2'-ethylphenyl)-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (2'Et-MPTP), and their corresponding pyridinium species was studied in the rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cell line. MPTP and its analogues are known to be metabolized by monoamine oxidase (MAO) to dihydropyridinium intermediates which are further transformed, either enzymatically or spontaneously, into pyridinium species. MAO activity in PC12 cells is almost exclusively of the A form, and 2'Et-MPTP is a good substrate for both MAO-A and MAO-B. In contrast, MPTP is a poor substrate for MAO-A, but a good substrate for MAO-B. 2'Et-MPTP caused considerably more cell death than MPTP in the PC12 cells. However, 1-methyl-4-(2'-ethylphenyl)pyridinium and 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium, the corresponding pyridinium species formed from 2'Et-MPTP and MPTP, respectively, were equipotent as toxins. The toxic effects of the tetrahydropyridines and their corresponding pyridiniums were both concentration- and time-dependent. Measurements of the levels of the pyridinium species formed and the remaining tetrahydropyridine in the media indicated that 2'Et-MPTP was converted about five to seven times more readily into its toxic pyridinium species than was MPTP. There was, moreover, an excellent correlation between amount of pyridinium formed and cell death. There was also a parallel between the capacity of clorgyline and pargyline, irreversible MAO inhibitors, to decrease the formation of the pyridinium species and their capacity to protect against the toxic actions of the tetrahydropyridines. These data are consistent with the concept that the MAO-A-dependent formation of the pyridinium species from the tetrahydropyridine is a prerequisite for toxicity in PC12 cells.
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Chemically induced hypoglycemia and anoxia were evaluated in embryonic day 13 chicken retina to determine if excitotoxicity was a consequence of these conditions and if this was preceded by the net release of glutamate or aspartate. Retina incubated with iodoacetate (IOA), to inhibit glycolysis, or potassium cyanide (KCN), to inhibit electron transport, produced histological lesions similar to those found with N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) or kainate. An increase in gamma-aminobutyric acid release, which has been used previously as a marker of excitatory amino acid-induced acute excitotoxicity, was also found to occur with IOA or KCN treatment. The NMDA antagonists 2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate and MK-801 [(+)-11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten,5,10-imine maleate] protected retina from IOA- or KCN-induced lesioning and prevented the increase in gamma-aminobutyric acid release. The non-NMDA glutamate antagonist, 6-nitro,7-cyano-quinoxaline,2,3-dion, had little effect suggesting that the damage was mediated predominantly by the NMDA receptor. Extracellular glutamate and aspartate concentrations remained low (less than 0.2 microM) throughout incubation. Thus, the data furnish no evidence that an increase in released glutamate or aspartate is responsible for the activation of the NMDA receptor. Lactate production, ATP and phosphocreatine concentrations were also measured. ATP and phosphocreatine, but not lactate, levels were correlated with the induction of an acute excitotoxic lesion. The depletion of high energy phosphates and the first appearance of acute excitotoxicity were temporally distinct. Possible mechanisms linking metabolic inhibition and NMDA receptor-mediated acute excitotoxicity are discussed.
beta-N-Oxalylamino-L-alanine (BOAA) and beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) were tested for their ability to produce acute excitotoxicity in in embryonic chick retina. gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) release and histology were monitored in retina treated with various concentrations of BOAA, BMAA, kainate (KA), N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), or glutamate. BOAA and BMAA caused retinal lesions similar to those produced by the excitatory amino acids. BOAA was slightly less potent than KA, whereas BMAA had a potency similar to glutamate. BOAA, like KA and NMDA, caused a dose-dependent increase in GABA release. Addition of the NMDA antagonist (+)-MK-801, completely blocked acute excitotoxicity caused by NMDA or BMAA but was ineffective against KA or BOAA. Kynurenate, a nonspecific glutamate receptor antagonist, and DIDS, a Cl- channel blocker, were effective in blocking all agonist-induced toxicity. It is concluded that BOAA and BMAA cause excitotoxic damage in retina; BOAA induces toxicity through a non-NMDA type glutamate receptor and BMAA through the NMDA receptor.
The systemic administration of either methamphetamine or 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) to experimental animals produces degenerative changes in nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons or their axon terminals. This study was conducted to determine if excitatory amino acids, which appear to be involved in various neurodegenerative disorders, might also contribute to the dopaminergic neurotoxicity produced in mice by either methamphetamine or MPTP. MK-801, phencyclidine, and ketamine, noncompetitive antagonists of one subtype of excitatory amino acid receptor, the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, provided substantial protection against neurotoxicity produced by methamphetamine but not that produced by MPTP. These findings indicate that excitatory amino acids play an important role in the nigrostriatal dopaminergic damage induced by methamphetamine.