Journal
NEURAL REGENERATION RESEARCH
Volume 16, Issue 2, Pages 205-213Publisher
WOLTERS KLUWER MEDKNOW PUBLICATIONS
DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.290875
Keywords
apoptosis; apoptosis inducing factor; asphyxia; cell death; free radical; hypoxia-ischemia; mitochondria; neonates; oxidative stress
Categories
Funding
- Swedish Research Council [2018-02667]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [31761133015, U1704281, 81901335]
- Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation [PR2018-0082]
- Swedish Governmental Grants to Scientists Working in Health Care [ALFGBG-717791]
- Swedish Brain Foundation [FO2018-0034]
- Chinese Scholarship Council [201707040025, 201507040082]
- Vinnova [2018-02667] Funding Source: Vinnova
- Swedish Research Council [2018-02667] Funding Source: Swedish Research Council
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This review focuses on the molecular mechanisms of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, specifically highlighting the importance of apoptosis-inducing factor. Understanding the roles of this factor is crucial for developing more effective treatments for perinatal brain injury. Additionally, the interaction of apoptosis-inducing factor with other proteins may provide promising therapeutic targets for improving outcomes after perinatal brain injury.
Perinatal complications, such as asphyxia, can cause brain injuries that are often associated with subsequent neurological deficits, such as cerebral palsy or mental retardation. The mechanisms of perinatal brain injury are not fully understood, but mitochondria play a prominent role not only due to their central function in metabolism but also because many proteins with apoptosis-related functions are located in the mitochondrion. Among these proteins, apoptosis-inducing factor has already been shown to be an important factor involved in neuronal cell death upon hypoxia-ischemia, but a better understanding of the mechanisms behind these processes is required for the development of more effective treatments during the early stages of perinatal brain injury. In this review, we focus on the molecular mechanisms of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, specifically on the importance of apoptosis-inducing factor. The relevance of apoptosis-inducing factor is based not only because it participates in the caspase-independent apoptotic pathway but also because it plays a crucial role in mitochondrial energetic functionality, especially with regard to the maintenance of electron transport during oxidative phosphorylation and in oxidative stress, acting as a free radical scavenger. We also discuss all the different apoptosis-inducing factor isoforms discovered, focusing especially on apoptosis-inducing factor 2, which is only expressed in the brain and the functions of which are starting now to be clarified. Finally, we summarized the interaction of apoptosis-inducing factor with several proteins that are crucial for both apoptosis-inducing factor functions (prosurvival and pro-apoptotic) and that are highly important in order to develop promising therapeutic targets for improving outcomes after perinatal brain injury.
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