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Sodium Azide Induced Neuronal Damage In Vitro: Evidence for Non-Apoptotic Cell Death

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Abstract

The features of neuronal damage induced by the mitochondrial toxin NaN3 were investigated in rat primary cortical neuron cultures. Cell viability (MTT colorimetric determination) and transmembrane mitochondrial potential (J-C1 fluorescence) were concentration-dependently reduced 24 h after NaN3; neither nuclear fragmentation by DAPI, nor Annexin V positivity by flow cytometry were detected, ruling out the occurrence of apoptosis. The loss in cell viability (to 54 ± 2%) observed 24 h after a 10-min treatment with 3 mM NaN3 was prevented by the NMDA glutamate receptor antagonist MK801 (1 μM), by the antioxidants trolox (100 μM) and acetyl-l-carnitine (1 mM) and by the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, L-NAME (100 μM), but not by the guanylylcyclase inhibitor ODQ, 10 μM. The mitochondrial dysfunction induced by NaN3 provides a common platform for investigating the mechanisms of both ischemic and degenerative neuronal injury, useful for screening potential protective agents against neuronal death.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Grants from University of Ferrara, Italy, from Associazione Emma e Ernesto Rulfo per la Genetica Medica, Parma, Italy and from Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara. We are grateful to Dr. Amanda Neville for the English revision of the text.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Diagnostica, Sezione di Genetica Medica, Università di Ferrara, Via Fossato di Mortara 74, 44100, Ferrara, Italy

    Rita Selvatici & Sofia Falzarano

  2. Dipartimento di Morfologia ed Embriologia, Sezione di Anatomia Umana, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

    Maurizio Previati & Irene Lanzoni

  3. Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Sezione di Farmacologia, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

    Silvia Marino, Luca Marani & Anna Siniscalchi

Authors
  1. Rita Selvatici
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  2. Maurizio Previati
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  3. Silvia Marino
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  4. Luca Marani
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  5. Sofia Falzarano
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  6. Irene Lanzoni
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  7. Anna Siniscalchi
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Correspondence to Rita Selvatici.

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Rita Selvatici and Maurizio Previati equally contributed to the work.

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Selvatici, R., Previati, M., Marino, S. et al. Sodium Azide Induced Neuronal Damage In Vitro: Evidence for Non-Apoptotic Cell Death. Neurochem Res 34, 909–916 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-008-9852-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-008-9852-0

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