Traina Giovanna, Bernardi Rodolfo, Rizzo Milena, Calvani Menotti, Durante Mauro, Brunelli Marcello
Dipartimento di Fisiologia e Biochimica G. Moruzzi, Università di Pisa, Via S. Zeno, 56127 Pisa, Italy.
Neurochem Int. 2006 Jun;48(8):673-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neuint.2005.11.005. Epub 2006 Mar 9.
Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) exerts unique neuroprotective, neuromodulatory, and neurotrophic properties, which play an important role in counteracting various pathological processes, and have antioxidative properties, protecting cells against lipid peroxidation. In this study, suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) method was applied for the generation of subtracted cDNA libraries and the subsequent identification of differentially expressed transcripts after treatment of rats with ALC. The technique generates an equalized representation of differentially expressed genes irrespective of their relative abundance and it is based on the construction of forward and reverse cDNA libraries that allow the identification of the genes that are regulated after ALC treatment. In the present paper, we report the identification of the gene of mitochondrial voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) protein which is positively modulated by the ALC treatment. VDAC is a small pore-forming protein of the mitochondrial outer membrane. It represents an interesting tool for Ca(2+) homeostasis, and it plays a central role in apoptosis. In addition, VDAC seems to have a relevant role in the synaptic plasticity.
乙酰左旋肉碱（ALC）具有独特的神经保护、神经调节和神经营养特性，在对抗各种病理过程中发挥重要作用，并且具有抗氧化特性，可保护细胞免受脂质过氧化损伤。在本研究中，应用抑制性消减杂交（SSH）方法构建消减cDNA文库，并在大鼠经ALC处理后鉴定差异表达的转录本。该技术能产生差异表达基因的均衡表达谱，而不考虑其相对丰度，它基于正向和反向cDNA文库的构建，从而能够鉴定出经ALC处理后被调控的基因。在本文中，我们报告了线粒体电压依赖性阴离子通道（VDAC）蛋白基因的鉴定，该基因在ALC处理后被正向调控。VDAC是线粒体外膜上形成小孔的一种蛋白质。它是钙（2+）稳态的一个有趣工具，并且在细胞凋亡中起核心作用。此外，VDAC似乎在突触可塑性中也具有相关作用。
