Restoration of Akt activity by the bisperoxovanadium compound bpV(pic) attenuates hippocampal apoptosis in experimental neonatal pneumococcal meningitis.

ABSTRACT: Pneumococcal meningitis causes apoptosis of developing neurons in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. The death of these cells is accompanied with long-term learning and memory deficits in meningitis survivors. Here, we studied the role of the PI3K/Akt (protein kinase B) survival pathway in hippocampal apoptosis in a well-characterized infant rat model of pneumococcal meningitis. Meningitis was accompanied by a significant decrease of the PI3K product phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIP(3)) and of phosphorylated (i.e., activated) Akt in the hippocampus. At the cellular level, phosphorylated Akt was decreased in both the granular layer and the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus, the region where the developing neurons undergo apoptosis. Protein levels and activity of PTEN, th

SUBMITTER: Sury MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2982859 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature