Abstract
The intravenous injection of the serine protease, tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), has shown to benefit stroke patients by promoting early reperfusion. However, it has recently been suggested that t-PA activity, in the cerebral parenchyma, may also potentiate excitotoxic neuronal death. The present study has dealt with the role of the t-PA inhibitor, PAI-1, in the neuroprotective activity of the cytokine TGF-β1 and focused on the transduction pathway involved in this effect. We demonstrated that PAI-1, produced by astrocytes, mediates the neuroprotective activity of TGF-β1 against N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated excitotoxicity. This t-PA inhibitor, PAI-1, protected neurons against NMDA-induced neuronal death by modulating the NMDA-evoked calcium influx. Finally, we showed that the activation of the Smad3-dependent transduction pathway mediates the TGF-β-induced up-regulation of PAI-1 and subsequent neuroprotection. Overall, this study underlines the critical role of the t-PA/PAI-1 axis in the regulation of glutamatergic neurotransmission.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 634-644 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2002 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors were supported by grants from the CNRS and the University of Caen. The following authors received doctoral bursaries: F.D. (Regional council of Lower-Normandy); O.N (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique-CEA); M.F. (Centre National de la Recherche scientifique—CNRS); S.L. (Regional council of Lower-Normandy); and C.A. (French Ministry of Education and Research).
Keywords
- Calcium
- Excitotoxicity
- NMDA
- PAI-1
- Smad
- TGF
- t-PA