Journal
CELL DEATH AND DIFFERENTIATION
Volume 11, Issue -, Pages S181-S192Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/sj.cdd.4401504
Keywords
optic neuritis; erythropoietin; retinal ganglion cells; Bcl-2 family; phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase
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In multiple sclerosis (MS), long-term disability is primarily caused by axonal and neuronal damage. We demonstrated in a previous study that neuronal apoptosis occurs early during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a common animal model of MS. In the present study, we show that, in rats suffering from myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-induced optic neuritis, systemic application of erythropoietin (Epo) significantly increased survival and function of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), the neurons that form the axons of the optic nerve. We identified three independent intracellular signaling pathways involved in Epo-induced neuroprotection in vivo: Protein levels of phospho-Akt, phospho-MAPK 1 and 2, and Bcl-2 were increased under Epo application. Using a combined treatment of Epo together with a selective inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) prevented upregulation of phospho-Akt and consecutive RGC rescue. We conclude that in MOG-EAE the PI3-K/Akt pathway has an important influence on RGC survival under systemic treatment with Epo.
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