The Role of the Neuroprotective Factor Npas4 in Cerebral Ischemia

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Fong Chan Choy¹  Thomas S. Klarić¹  Simon A. Koblar²  Martin D. Lewis¹ 

[1] School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia;School of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia;

关键词: apoptosis;    ischemic stroke;    neuroinflammation;    neuroprotection;    Npas4;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms161226144

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and adult disability in the world. Although many molecules have been documented to have a neuroprotective effect, the majority of these molecules failed to improve the neurological outcomes for patients with brain ischemia. It has been proposed that neuroprotection alone may, in fact, not be adequate for improving the prognosis of ischemic stroke. Neuroprotectants that can regulate other processes which occur in the brain during ischemia could potentially be targets for the development of effective therapeutic interventions in stroke. Neuronal Per-Arnt-Sim domain protein 4 (Npas4) is an activity-dependent transcription factor whose expression is induced in various brain insults, including cerebral ischemia. It has been shown that Npas4 plays an important role in protecting neurons against many types of neurodegenerative insult. Recently, it was demonstrated that Npas4 indeed has a neuroprotective role in ischemic stroke and that Npas4 might be involved in modulating the cell death pathway and inflammatory response. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the roles that Npas4 may play in neuroinflammation and ischemia. Understanding how ischemic lesion size in stroke may be reduced through modulation of Npas4-dependent apoptotic and inflammatory pathways could lead to the development of new stroke therapies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.