Treatment of C2-C12 mouse myoblasts with the immunosuppressant drug cyclosporin A (CsA) enhances the increase in acetylcholinesterase (AChE) expression observed during skeletal muscle differentiation. The enhanced AChE expression is due primarily to increased mRNA stability because CsA treatment increases the half-life of AChE mRNA, but not the apparent transcriptional rate of the gene. Neither...

Neuronal splice site selection events control multiple brain functions. Here, we report their involvement in stress-modulated hippocampal plasticity and errors of cognitive performance. Under stress, alternative splicing changes priority from synaptic acetylcholinesterase (AChE-S) to the normally rare, soluble and monomeric AChE-R variant, which facilitates hippocampal long-term potentiation (L...

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) expression was found to be induced in the mammalian CNS, including the retina, by different types of stress leading to cellular apoptosis. Here, we tested possible involvement of AChE in hyperglycemia-induced apoptosis in a retinal cell line. Y79 retinoblastoma cells were incubated in starvation media (1% FBS and 1 mg/ml glucose) for 16-24 h, and then exposed to hype...

Despite three decades of intensive research in the field of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and numerous clinical trials of new therapeutic agents, cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) are still the mainstay of therapeutics for AD and dementia with Lewy bodies. Pharmacodynamic analyses of ChEIs provide paradoxical observations. Treatment with the rapidly reversible, noncarbamylating ChEIs (donepezil, gal...

A pulse-chase experiment was performed in embryonic rat myotube cultures to examine possible precursor-product relationships among the various molecular forms of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). AChE was labeled with paraoxon, a compound which diethylphosphorylates AChE at its active site. Diethylphosphorylated (labeled) AChE is inactive but can be reactivated by treatment with 1-methyl-2-hydroxyim...

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is thought to play an important role during apoptosis. Our results showed that H2O2 induced AChE activity, a functional marker in apoptosis, increases in neuronal-like PC12 cells. Glutathione, which is involved in cellular redox homeostasis, inhibited the increase of AChE activity, suggesting that reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a key role in this process. Further...

Filariasis is a major health problem, affecting millions of people in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. The isolation and characterization of parasite-specific enzyme targets is essential for developing effective control measures against filariasis. Acetylcholinesterase (AchE, E.C. 3.1.1.7), an important enzyme of neuromuscular transmission is found in a number of helminths includ...

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is expressed in murine megakaryocytes (MK), where its antisense inhibition suppresses differentiation, yet was never detected in human MK. Here, we report that AChE is produced in normal human bone marrow MK and in cell lines derived thereof. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification showed two ACHEmRNA forms in human megakaryoblastic DAM...

BACKGROUND In Alzheimer's disease (AD), cholinergic neurons are particularly vulnerable for as yet unclear reasons. Here, we report that modified composition, localization and properties of alternative splice variants encoding the acetylcholine-hydrolyzing enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) may be variably involved in disease progression or in systemic efforts to attenuate its progression. OB...

Our recent study demonstrated that acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) of the diaphragm decreased during sepsis. However, the mechanisms were not clearly identified. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether the decreased AChE activity was related to oxidative stress by observing AChE activity in different grades of sepsis induced by caecal ligation and...