A novel neuroprotective mechanism for lithium that prevents association of the p75NTR-sortilin receptor complex and attenuates proNGF-induced neuronal death in vitro and in vivo

Shayri G. Greenwood, Laura Montroull, Marta Volosin, Helen E. Scharfman, Kenneth K. Teng, Matthew Light, Risa Torkin, Fredrick Maxfield, Barbara L. Hempstead, Wilma J. Friedman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Neurotrophins play critical roles in the survival, maintenance and death of neurons. In particular, proneurotrophins have been shown to mediate cell death following brain injury induced by status epilepticus (SE) in rats. Previous studies have shown that pilocarpine-induced seizures lead to increased levels of proNGF, which binds to the p75NTR-sortilin receptor complex to elicit apoptosis. A screen to identify compounds that block proNGF binding and uptake into cells expressing p75 and sortilin identified lithium citrate as a potential inhibitor of proNGF and p75NTR-mediated cell death. In this study, we demonstrate that low, submicromolar doses of lithium citrate effectively inhibited proNGF-induced cell death in cultured neurons and protected hippocampal neurons following pilocarpine-induced SE in vivo. We analyzed specific mechanisms by which lithium citrate afforded neuroprotection and determined that lithium citrate prevented the association and internalization of the p75NTR-sortilin receptor complex. Our results demonstrate a novel mechanism by which low-dose treatments of lithium citrate are effective in attenuating p75NTR-mediated cell death in vitro and in vivo.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere0257-17.2017
JournaleNeuro
Volume5
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2018

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Neuroscience(all)

Keywords

  • Apoptosis
  • Neuroprotection
  • Neurotrophins
  • P75
  • ProNGF
  • Seizures

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A novel neuroprotective mechanism for lithium that prevents association of the p75NTR-sortilin receptor complex and attenuates proNGF-induced neuronal death in vitro and in vivo'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this