Differentially expressed genes in Hirudo medicinalis ganglia after acetyl-L-carnitine treatment.

ABSTRACT: Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) is a naturally occurring substance that, when administered at supra-physiological concentration, is neuroprotective. It is involved in membrane stabilization and in enhancement of mitochondrial functions. It is a molecule of considerable interest for its clinical application in various neural disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and painful neuropathies. ALC is known to improve the cognitive capability of aged animals chronically treated with the drug and, recently, it has been reported that it impairs forms of non-associative learning in the leech. In the present study the effects of ALC on gene expression have been analyzed in the leech Hirudo medicinalis. The suppression subtractive hybridisation methodology was used for the generation of subtracted cDNA lib

SUBMITTER: Federighi G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3537667 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature