Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2A (CMT2A) is an autosomal dominant axonal form of peripheral neuropathy caused by mutations in the mitofusin 2 gene (MFN2), which encodes a mitochondrial outer membrane protein that promotes mitochondrial fusion. Emerging evidence also points to a role of MFN2 in the regulation of mitochondrial metabolism. To examine whether mitochondrial dysfunction is a featu...

Reductions in the blood supply produce considerable injury if the duration of ischemia is prolonged. Paradoxically, restoration of perfusion to ischemic organs can exacerbate tissue damage and extend the size of an evolving infarct. Being highly metabolic organs, the heart and brain are particularly vulnerable to the deleterious effects of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). While the pathogenetic mech...

Several lines of evidence suggest that the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generatated by mitochondria have a pivotal role in determining activation of cardioprotective pathways and cell survival or, alternatively, in damaging cellular components and initiating cell death. In this article, we report the role of some important components of mitochondria in determining protective ROS signaling or d...

Introduction: Cardiac preconditioning represents the most potent and consistently reproducible method of rescuing heart tissue from undergoing irreversible ischemic damage. The aim of the present study was to evaluate oxytocin (OT) induced cardioprotection and its signaling pathways on lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase-MB isoenzyme (CK-MB) in the anesthetized rats. Methods: Ei...

introduction: cardiac preconditioning represents the most potent and consistently reproducible method of rescuing heart tissue from undergoing irreversible ischemic damage. the aim of the present study was to evaluate oxytocin (ot) induced cardioprotection and its signaling pathways on lactate dehydrogenase (ldh) and creatine kinase-mb isoenzyme (ck-mb) in the anesthetized rats. methods: eighty...

Oxygen deprivation triggers excitotoxic cell death in mammal neurons through excessive calcium loading via over-activation of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors. This does not occur in the western painted turtle, which overwinters for months without oxygen. Neurological damage is avoided through anoxia-mediated decreases in ...

The onset of coronary occlusion caused by vasospasm, thrombosis, or atherosclerotic plaque rupture produces myocardial ischaemia, and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) can result within minutes. Reperfusion with minimal time lapse is the treatment of choice for AMI, but coronary reperfusion can also enhance myocardial injury and the induction of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. In 1986, it...