Abstract
Hypoxic or ischemic stress causes serious brain injury via various pathologic mechanisms including suppressed protein synthesis, neuronal apoptosis, and the release of neurotoxic substances. Many neuroprotective treatments of hypoxic or ischemic brain injury rely on these pathologic mechanisms. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), an atypical Ser/Thr protein kinase, could be a novel therapeutic target. mTOR plays a critical role in regulating many activities such as protein synthesis, cell growth, and cell death. Furthermore, mTOR could promote angiogenesis, neuronal regeneration, and synaptic plasticity, reduce neuronal apoptosis, and remove neurotoxic substances, which are all closely associated with the repair and survival mechanisms of hypoxic or ischemic brain injury. Although there is currently controversy with regard to regulating the activation of mTOR, the effective neuroprotective functions resulting from mTOR activation have been confirmed by various studies. Considering the potential capability for mTOR in regulating the repair and survival mechanisms of hypoxic or ischemic brain injury, mTOR may be a novel target for neuroprotective treatment.
About the authors
Hongju Chen, MD, is a Resident Doctor at the Department of Pediatrics, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China. From 2008 to the present she has been studying for a PhD in Pediatrics at the Sichuan University. Her focus is on the pathological and repair mechanisms of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, especially the mTOR signaling pathway. She has published a paper titled ‘mTOR activates hypoxiainducible factor-1α and inhibits neuronal apoptosis in the developing rat brain during the early phase after hypoxiaischemia’ in Neuroscience Letters.
Yi Qu, PhD, is a Professor at the Department of Pediatrics, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China. In 2003 she obtained a PhD degree from Sichuan University. In 2003–2004 she worked as a research assistant in the Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Hongkong University. From 2005 to the present she has been working at the Center for Research of Child Development and Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University.
Binzhi Tang, PhD, 2005–2008: Master degree of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Sichuan University. 2008–2011: PhD degree of Pediatric in Sichuan University. He has been engaged in the research work of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.
Tao Xiong, MD, Attending Doctor (Department of Pediatrics, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China). 2004–2007: Master degree of Pediatric in the Luzhou Medical College. 2007–2009: Working as a Resident doctor in the Department of Pediatrics in affiliated hospital of Luzhou Medical College. 2009-now: Studying for the PhD degree of Pediatric in Sichuan University. He has been doing experimental research and evidence-based medicine research in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.
Dezhi Mu, PhD, MD, Professor (Department of Pediatrics, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China). Associate Adjunct Professor (Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA). 1993–1996: PhD in the West China Medical University. 1996–1998: Post-doctoral in the Beijing Medical University. 1998-: Post-doctoral, research assistant and Associate Professor in the University of California, San Francisco, California, USA. Major: Development and Diseases.
©2012 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
