Single injection of sustained-release prostacyclin analog ONO-1301-MS ameliorates hypoxic toxicity in the murine model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by several pathologies including oxidative stress, apoptosis, neuroinflammation, and glutamate toxicity. Although multiple reports suggest that ischemia and hypoxia in the spinal cord plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of ALS, the precise role of hypoxia in disease progression remains unknown. In this study, we detected higher expression levels of Hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α), a key regulator of cellular responses to hypoxia, in the spinal cord of ALS patients and in the transgenic mice overexpressing the familial ALS-associated G93A SOD1 mutation (mSOD1 mice) compared to controls.

Febuxostat ameliorates secondary progressive experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by restoring mitochondrial energy production in a GOT2-dependent manner.

Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are important determinants of neurodegeneration in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). We previously showed that febuxostat, a xanthine oxidase inhibitor, ameliorated both relapsing-remitting and secondary progressive experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) by preventing neurodegeneration in mice. In this study, we investigated how febuxostat protects neuron in secondary progressive EAE.

A new protein complex promoting the assembly of Rad51 filaments.

During homologous recombination, eukaryotic RecA homologue Rad51 assembles into a nucleoprotein filament on single-stranded DNA to catalyse homologous pairing and DNA-strand exchange with a homologous template. Rad51 nucleoprotein filaments are highly dynamic and regulated via the coordinated actions of various accessory proteins including Rad51 mediators. Here, we identify a new Rad51 mediator complex.