In the 15 years since the neurotoxic properties of glutamate and related amino acids were first described, there has been no thoroughly convincing explanation of the pathophysiology of excitatory amino acid-induced neuronal death. These substances depolarize central neurons, increase the frequency of neuronal discharge, and augment synaptic activity, leading to the suggestion that one or more o...

After an ischemic stroke, neurons in the core are rapidly committed to die, whereas neuron death in the slowly developing penumbra is more amenable to therapeutic intervention. Microglia activation contributes to delayed inflammation, but because neurotoxic mechanisms in the penumbra are not well understood, we developed an in vitro model of microglia activation and propagated neuron killing. T...

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a form of inherited mental retardation that results from the absence of the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), the product of the Fmr1 gene. Numerous studies have shown that FMRP expression in astrocytes is important in the development of FXS. Although astrocytes affect neuronal dendrite development in Fmr1 knockout (KO) mice, the factors released by astroc...

Hyperbilirubinemia may lead to neurotoxicity and neuronal death. Although the mechanisms of nerve cell damage by unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) appear to involve a disruption of the redox status and excitotoxicity, the contribution of nitric oxide (NO) and of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptors is unclear. Thus, we decided to investigate the role of NO and NMDA glutamate receptors in ...

PURPOSE To determine if brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has a neuroprotective effect against N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced cell death in retina. METHODS NMDA was injected into the vitreous of rat eyes. NMDA-induced neuronal death was measured by morphometric analyses on cell counts of ganglion cell layer cells and thickness of retinal layers. Also, we conducted additional exper...

Excitotoxicity, the specific type of neurotoxicity mediated by glutamate, may be the missing link between ischemia and neuronal death, and intervening the mechanistic steps that lead to excitotoxicity can prevent stroke damage. Interest in excitotoxicity began fifty years ago when monosodium glutamate was found to be neurotoxic. Evidence soon demonstrated that glutamate is not only the primary ...

As a natural analogue of glutamate, l-theanine is the unique amino acid derivative in green tea. Although its underlining mechanisms are not yet clear, it has been suggested that l-theanine treatment may prove beneficial to patients with neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we investigated the neuroprotective effect and its mechanism of l-theanine in an in vitro model of Alzheimer's disea...

The present study investigates the involvement of the IL-6 family of cytokines, activation of the transcription factor Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription-3 (STAT3), and the role of Suppressor Of Cytokine Signaling-3 (SOCS3) in regulating excitotoxic neuronal death in vitro. Biochemical evidence demonstrates that in primary cortical neurons and SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, IL-6 cyt...