The mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) describes an inducible activity that regulates solute exchange between mitochondrial matrix contents and the surrounding cytoplasm, which acutely leads to loss of mitochondrial inner membrane potential but eventually organelle swelling and rupture. Mitochondrial rupture due to prolonged MPTP engagement, which is often the result of ischemic ...

BACKGROUND Mitochondria are critical to cardiac injury during reperfusion as a result of damage sustained during ischemia, including the loss of bcl-2. We asked if bcl-2 depletion not only leads to selective permeation of the outer mitochondrial membrane (MOMP) favoring cytochrome c release and programmed cell death, but also favors opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPT...

In addition to their normal physiological role in ATP production and metabolism, mitochondria exhibit a dark side mediated by the opening of a non-specific pore in the inner mitochondrial membrane. This mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) causes the mitochondria to breakdown rather than synthesize ATP and, if unrestrained, leads to necrotic cell death. The MPTP is opened in respon...

Oxidative stress has been implicated in the etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) and in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) animal model of PD. It is known that under conditions of oxidative stress, the transcription factor NF-E2-related factor (Nrf2) binds to antioxidant response element (ARE) to induce antioxidant and phase II detoxification enzymes. To investigate the rol...

Background: Parkinson disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that has been associated with many factors, including oxidative stress, inflammation, and iron accumulation. The antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and iron-chelating properties of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a major polyphenol in green tea, may offer protection against PD.Objective: We sought to determine the neurorescue effe...

1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) causes nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurotoxicity and behavioral impairment in rodents, and previous studies suggest that nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species are involved in MPTP-induced neurotoxicity. The present study examines the effect of edaravone (3-methyl-1-phenyl-2-pyrazolin-5-one), a radical scavenger, on MPTP-induced neurotoxicity...

1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) damages dopaminergic neurons as seen in Parkinson's disease. Although increasing evidence suggests an involvement of glia in MPTP neurotoxicity, the nature of this involvement remains unclear. Exploiting the advantage of cell culture systems, we demonstrated that microglia, but not astroglia, significantly enhanced the progression of MPTP-indu...

1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is a neurotoxin commonly used to produce an animal model of Parkinson's disease. Previous studies have suggested a critical role for neuronal nitric oxide (NO) synthase- (nNOS-) derived NO in the pathogenesis of MPTP. However, NO activity is difficult to assess in vivo due to its extremely short biological half-life, and so in vivo evidence of...

BACKGROUND Positron Emission Tomography (PET) measurement was applied to the brain of the common marmoset, a small primate species, treated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). The marmoset shows prominent Parkinson's disease (PD) signs due to dopaminergic neural degeneration. Recently, the transgenic marmoset (TG) carrying human PD genes is developing. For phenotypic evalu...

Increasing evidence suggests a pivotal role for neuroinflammation in the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease, but whether activated microglia participate in disease progression remains unclear. To clarify this issue, we determined the numbers of activated microglial cells in the substantia nigra pars compacta and ventral tegmental area of monkeys subacutely and chronically exposed to 1-methyl-4-p...