protectin-d1 and Neurodegenerative-Diseases

Docosahexaenoic acid (C22: 6n-3, DHA) is a long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid of marine origin fundamental for the formation and function of the nervous system, particularly the brain and the retina of humans. It has been proposed a remarkable role of DHA during human evolution, mainly on the growth and development of the brain. Currently, DHA is considered a critical nutrient during pregnancy and breastfeeding due their active participation in the development of the nervous system in early life. DHA and specifically one of its derivatives known as neuroprotectin D-1 (NPD-1), has neuroprotective properties against brain aging, neurodegenerative diseases and injury caused after brain ischemia-reperfusion episodes. This paper discusses the importance of DHA in the human brain given its relevance in the development of the tissue and as neuroprotective agent. It is also included a critical view about the ways to supply this noble fatty acid to the population.

Topics: Brain; Breast Feeding; Docosahexaenoic Acids; Fatty Acids; Female; Humans; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Pregnancy; Reperfusion Injury

The onset of neurodegenerations and nervous system injury both trigger cell signaling perturbations that lead to damage of neuronal circuits and synapic connections, as well as protective signaling that aims to halt disease onset. Here we review recent findings that support the role of the docosanoid mediator neuroprotectin D1 (NPD1) as an early response or sentinel during the initial phase of nervous system damage. NPD1 is derived from docosahexaenoic acid that is selectively concentrated and retained in the nervous system. The protein misfolding triggers the biosynthesis of NPD1 which in turn downregulates pathways that lead to cell death and changes the outcome to cell survival. Proteotoxic stress as a result of protein misfolding is a widespread event in many neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, mechanisms and mediators such as NPD1 that curtail consequences of these events are of interest as leads in the search for novel preventive and or therapeutic approaches.

Topics: Animals; Cell Survival; Central Nervous System; Docosahexaenoic Acids; Homeostasis; Humans; Neuritis; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Neurons; Protein Unfolding; Proteostasis Deficiencies; Up-Regulation

The significance of the selective enrichment in omega-3 essential fatty acids in photoreceptors and synaptic membranes of the nervous system has remained, until recently, incompletely understood. While studying mechanisms of cell survival in neural degeneration, we discovered a docosanoid synthesized from unesterified docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) by a 15-lipoxygenase (15-LOX), which we called neuroprotectin D1 (NPD1; 10R,17S-dihydroxy-docosa-4Z,7Z,11E,13E,15E,19Z hexaenoic acid). This lipid mediator is a docosanoid because it is derived from the 22 carbon (22C) precursor DHA, unlike eicosanoids, which are derived from the 20 carbon (20C) arachidonic acid (AA) family member of essential fatty acids. We discovered that NPD1 is promptly made in response to oxidative stress, as a response to brain ischemia-reperfusion, and in the presence of neurotrophins. NPD1 is neuroprotective in experimental brain damage, in oxidative-stressed retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, and in human brain cells exposed to amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptides. We thus envision NPD1 as a protective sentinel, one of the very first defenses activated when cell homeostasis is threatened by imbalances in normal neural function. We provide here, in three sections, recent experimental examples that highlight the specificity and potency of NPD1 spanning beneficial bioactivity during initiation and early progression of neurodegeneration: (1) during retinal signal phototransduction, (2) during brain ischemia-reperfusion, and (3) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and stressed human brain cell models of AD. From this experimental evidence, we conclude that DHA-derived NPD1 regulation targets upstream events of brain cell apoptosis, as well as neuro-inflammatory signaling, promoting and maintaining cellular homeostasis, and restoring neural and retinal cell integrity.

Topics: Aging; Animals; Dietary Fats; Disease Progression; Docosahexaenoic Acids; Fatty Acids, Omega-3; Humans; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain; Light Signal Transduction; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Neuroprotective Agents; Reperfusion Injury

Topics: Brain; Diet; Docosahexaenoic Acids; Epilepsy; Humans; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Neuronal Plasticity; Neuroprotective Agents; Reperfusion Injury; Retina

Synaptic activity and ischemia/injury promote lipid messenger formation through phospholipase-mediated cleavage of specific phospholipids from membrane reservoirs. Lipid messengers modulate signaling cascades, contributing to development, differentiation, function (e.g., memory), protection, regeneration, and repair of neurons and overall regulation of neuronal, glial, and endothelial cell functional integrity. Oxidative stress disrupts lipid signaling and promotes lipid peroxidation and neurodegeneration. Lipid signaling at the neurovascular unit (neurons, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia, and cells of the microvasculature) is altered in early cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative disease. We discuss how lipid signaling regulates critical events in neuronal survival. Aberrant synaptic plasticity (e.g., epileptogenesis) is highlighted to show how gene expression may drive synaptic circuitry formation in the "wrong" direction. Docosahexaenoic acid has been implicated in memory, photoreceptor cell biogenesis and function, and neuroprotection. Free docosahexaenoic acid released in the brain during experimental stroke leads to the synthesis of stereospecific messengers through oxygenation pathways. One messenger, 10,17S-docosatriene (neuroprotectin D1; NPD1), counteracts leukocyte infiltration and proinflammatory gene expression in brain ischemia-reperfusion. In retina, photoreceptor survival depends on retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell integrity. NPD1 is synthesized in RPE cells undergoing oxidative stress, potently counteracts oxidative stress-triggered apoptotic DNA damage in RPE, upregulates antiapoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-x(L), and decreases proapoptotic Bax and Bad expression. These findings expand our understanding of how the nervous system counteracts redox disturbances, mitochondrial dysfunction, and proinflammatory conditions. The specificity and potency of NPD1 indicate a potential target for therapeutic intervention for stroke, age-related macular degeneration, spinal cord injury, and other neuroinflammatory or neurodegenerative diseases.

Topics: Animals; Brain; Brain Injuries; Docosahexaenoic Acids; Humans; Inflammation; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Oxidative Stress; Phospholipids; Second Messenger Systems; Signal Transduction

Neuroprotectin D1 (NPD1) is a stereoselective mediator derived from the omega-3 essential fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with potent inflammatory resolving and neuroprotective bioactivity. NPD1 reduces Aβ42 peptide release from aging human brain cells and is severely depleted in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain. Here we further characterize the mechanism of NPD1's neurogenic actions using 3xTg-AD mouse models and human neuronal-glial (HNG) cells in primary culture, either challenged with Aβ42 oligomeric peptide, or transfected with beta amyloid precursor protein (βAPP)(sw) (Swedish double mutation APP695(sw), K595N-M596L). We also show that NPD1 downregulates Aβ42-triggered expression of the pro-inflammatory enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and of B-94 (a TNF-α-inducible pro-inflammatory element) and apoptosis in HNG cells. Moreover, NPD1 suppresses Aβ42 peptide shedding by down-regulating β-secretase-1 (BACE1) while activating the α-secretase ADAM10 and up-regulating sAPPα, thus shifting the cleavage of βAPP holoenzyme from an amyloidogenic into the non-amyloidogenic pathway. Use of the thiazolidinedione peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) agonist rosiglitazone, the irreversible PPARγ antagonist GW9662, and overexpressing PPARγ suggests that the NPD1-mediated down-regulation of BACE1 and Aβ42 peptide release is PPARγ-dependent. In conclusion, NPD1 bioactivity potently down regulates inflammatory signaling, amyloidogenic APP cleavage and apoptosis, underscoring the potential of this lipid mediator to rescue human brain cells in early stages of neurodegenerations.

Topics: Alzheimer Disease; Amyloid beta-Peptides; Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases; Animals; Cell Survival; Cells, Cultured; Disease Models, Animal; Docosahexaenoic Acids; Gene Expression Regulation; Humans; Mice; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Neurons; Neuroprotective Agents; Peptide Fragments; PPAR gamma