fenobam and Brain-Ischemia

We examined the ways in which fenobam could promote not only the transduction of PEP-1-FK506BP into cells and tissues but also the neuroprotective effect of PEP-1-FK506BP against ischemic damage. Fenobam strongly enhanced the protective effect of PEP-1-FK506BP against H2O2-induced toxicity and DNA fragmentation in C6 cells. In addition, combinational treatment of fenobam with PEP-1-FK506BP significantly inhibited the activation of Akt and MAPK induced by H2O2, compared to treatment with PEP-1-FK506BP alone. Interestingly, our results showed that fenobam significantly increased the transduction of PEP-1-FK506BP into both C6 cells and the hippocampus of gerbil brains. Subsequently, a transient ischemic gerbil model study demonstrated that fenobam pretreatment led to the increased neuroprotection of PEP-1-FK506BP in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. Therefore, these results suggest that fenobam can be a useful agent to enhance the transduction of therapeutic PEP-1-fusion proteins into cells and tissues, thereby promoting their neuroprotective effects.

Topics: Animals; Brain Ischemia; Cell Line, Tumor; Disease Models, Animal; DNA Fragmentation; Gerbillinae; Hippocampus; Hydrogen Peroxide; Imidazoles; Male; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; Neuroprotective Agents; Oxidative Stress; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; Rats; Recombinant Fusion Proteins; Tacrolimus Binding Proteins; Transduction, Genetic