Posted on 05/16/2006 7:45:53 PM PDT by neverdem
HALLE, Germany, May 16 (UPI) -- German scientists have reported synthesizing a compound that dramatically decreases damage to neurons in rats demonstrating stroke symptoms.
Stroke is the third-leading cause of death in the United States and the most common cause of adult disability. An ischemic stroke occurs when a cerebral vessel occludes, obstructing blood flow to a portion of the brain.
There is only one approved stroke therapy -- tissue plasminogen activator, which targets the thrombus within the blood vessel. Because of the lack of available stroke treatments, neuroprotective agents have also generated as much interest as thrombolytic therapies.
The researchers determined immunosuppressive drug FK506, which is often administered to transplant patients to prevent organ rejection and several molecules with similar structures also demonstrate neuroprotective and neuroregenerative effects in a wide range of animal models including stroke and nerve damage.
Gunter Fischer and colleagues at the Max-Planck Research Unit for Enzymology of Protein Folding in Halle, Germany, determined FK506 derivatives specifically target a receptor called FKBP38.
"High FKBP38 activity in neuronal cells triggers mechanisms leading to programmed cell death," explained Fischer. "Inhibition of FKBP38 makes cells more predisposed to survive."
The research appears in the May 26 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
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