Open AccessAdenosine receptor A 2A -R contributes to motoneuron survival by transactivating the tyrosine kinase receptor TrkB
Author(s) -
Stefan Wiese,
Sibylle Jablonka,
Bettina Holtmann,
Nadiya Orel,
Rithwick Rajagopal,
Moses V. Chao,
Michael Sendtner
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.0705267104
Subject(s) - trk receptor , tropomyosin receptor kinase b , transactivation , tropomyosin receptor kinase c , receptor tyrosine kinase , biology , neurotrophin , tyrosine kinase , low affinity nerve growth factor receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , neuroscience , cancer research , ror1 , protein kinase b , kinase , receptor , signal transduction , neurotrophic factors , platelet derived growth factor receptor , biochemistry , transcription factor , growth factor , gene
Neurotrophins are potent survival factors for developing and injured neurons. However, they are not being used to treat neurodegenerative diseases because of difficulties in administration and numerous side effects that have been encountered in previous clinical trials. Their biological activities use Trk (tropomyosin-related kinase) transmembrane tyrosine kinases. Therefore, one alternative approach is to use transactivation pathways such as adenosine 2A receptor agonists, which can activate Trk receptor signaling independent of neurotrophin binding. However, the relevancein vivo and applicability of these transactivation events during neurodegenerative and injury conditions have never been extensively studied. Here we demonstrate that motoneuron survival after facial nerve lesioning is significantly enhanced by transactivation of Trk receptor tyrosine kinases by adenosine agonists. Moreover, survival of motoneurons directly required the activation of the BDNF receptor TrkB and an increase in Akt (AKT8 virus oncogene cellular homolog) activity. The ability of small molecules to activate a trophic response by using Trk signaling provides a unique mechanism to promote survival signals in motoneurons and suggests new strategies for using transactivation in neurodegenerative diseases.