Pathways of neuronal apoptosis and functionality of the brain cortex during aging – the role of some drugs (angiogen, cytoflavin, piracetam)

Abstract

Decrease of cognitive capabilities, behavior change in aging is associated with age-dependent loss of brain neurons. An important issue in this situation is creation of a new therapeutic strategy for neurodegeneration associated with aging. The aim of work was to investigate mechanism of neuronal apoptosis in brain sensorimotor cortex during aging and the dysfunction of cortex, which associated with structural changes, and to investigate role of exogenous neurometabolites (succinate-containing drugs: angiogen and cytoflavin, nootropic drug piracetam) in the regulation of neuronal cell death in old animals. Materials and methods. We investigated young and old transgenic mice HER2/neu, control – wild-type mice FVB. We detected the neuron apoptosis levels in sorimotor cortex (TUNEL), the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2, Mcl-1 and pro-apoptotic protein caspase-3, p53 (Western blotting). Results and discussion. It was revealed that angiogen, cytoflavin, piracetam have marked neuroprotective effect on neurons of sensorimotor cortex of aged mice FVB and HER2. Studied products are involved in regulation of neuronal apoptosis by acting on p53 signaling pathway with caspase-3 activation. Involvement of these drugs in regulating of neuronal apoptosis depends on various morphofunctional and biochemical status of cells, as determined by genetic line – HER2 overexpression significantly alters biochemical processes and activation of signaling cascades in cells.