Role of PACAP in ischemic neural death

Hirokazu Ohtaki, Tomoya Nakamachi, Kenji Dohi, Seiji Shioda*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

97 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a neuropeptide that was first isolated from an ovine hypothalamus in 1989. Since its discovery, more than 2,000 papers have reported on the tissue and cellular distribution and functional significance of PACAP. A number of papers have reported that PACAP but not the vasoactive intestinal peptide suppressed neuronal cell death or decreased infarct volume after global and focal ischemia in rodents, even if PACAP was administered several hours after ischemia induction. In addition, recent studies using PACAP gene-deficient mice demonstrated that endogenous PACAP also contributes greatly to neuroprotection similarly to exogenously administered PACAP. The studies suggest that neuroprotection by PACAP might extend the therapeutic time window for treatment of ischemia-related conditions, such as stroke. This review summarizes the effects of PACAP on ischemic neuronal cell death, and the mechanism clarified in vivo ischemic studies. In addition, the prospective mechanism of PACAP on ischemic neuroprotection from in vitro neuronal and neuronal-like cell cultures with injured stress model is reviewed. Finally, the development of PACAP and/or receptor agonists for human therapy is discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)16-25
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Molecular Neuroscience
Volume36
Issue number1-3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2008/11

Keywords

  • Brain ischemia
  • Neuronal cell death
  • PACAP-specific receptor (PAC1R)
  • Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Role of PACAP in ischemic neural death'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this