The Role of MKPs in Oxidative Neuronal Cell Death

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Much of the neuronal damage resulting from ischemia is not immediate but delayed and is thought to be due, in addition to excitotoxic cell death, to overwhelming oxidative stress and subsequent apoptosis. Similarly, other debilitating diseases such as Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease have been linked with chronic oxidative stress and neurodegeration. It is the purpose of this proposal to investigate the signaling events that occur during oxidative stress in neurons and to conceive of approaches that may prevent neuronal death in this context. Glutamate-induced oxidative toxicity, both in the mouse hippocampal cell line, HT22, and primary immature neuronal cortical neurons, is a well-studied model of oxidative stress and neuronal cell death. Little is known about the role of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphatases (MKPs) during oxidative stress in neurons. We plan to investigate changes of expression and activity of MKPs during glutamate-induced oxidative stress in both HT22 and primary cortical neurons. In addition, MKP3 and its catalytically inactive mutant, MKP3 C293S, will be transfected into both cell systems in order to investigate the ability of this phosphatase to abrogate glutamate-induced oxidative toxicity. Further experiments involving the construction of a ligand- inducible MKP3-estrogen receptor ligand-binding domain (MKP3-ER LBD) will allow the temporal control of MKP3 activity in response to tamoxifen.