Premium
NOVEL ROLES FOR IGF‐1 IN CEREBROVASCULAR AND BRAIN AGING
Author(s) -
Sonntag William E
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.709.9
Subject(s) - paracrine signalling , neurotrophic factors , autocrine signalling , neuroscience , endocrine system , medicine , neurotrophin , hormone , endocrinology , dementia , biology , receptor , disease
Insulin‐like growth factor (IGF)‐1 is an important neurotrophic hormone. Deficiency of this hormone has been reported to influence the genesis of cognitive impairment and dementia in rodent models of aging and in elderly patients. However the specific mechanisms for these effects remain unclear. The regulation of IGF‐1 is complex and endocrine, paracrine and autocrine actions have been reported. Using both growth hormone and IGF‐1 deficient rats and igff/f mice treated with AAV‐Cre vectors to provide conditional and temporal knockout of IGF‐1, we find that both the vascular actions of IGF‐1 and the synaptic effects of IGF‐1 are important for the cognitive effects of IGF‐1. IGF‐1 appears to regulate both cerebrovascular density and myogenic constriction and protects against the deleterious effects of hypertension. In addition, IGF‐1 has important effects on synaptic proteins involved in exocytosis. The emerging data indicate that endocrine and paracrine IGF‐1 may have synergistic action on each of these targets and age‐related changes in each compartment have specific actions important for brain aging. Further studies that detail the specific actions of this important neurotrophic hormone will likely lead to therapies that result in improved cognitive function for the elderly patients.