Spectrin and calpain: a 'target' and a 'sniper' in the pathology of neuronal cells

It is well documented that activation of calpain, a calcium-sensitive cysteine protease, marks the pathology of naturally and experimentally occurring neurodegenerative conditions. Calpain-mediated proteolysis of major membrane-skeletal protein, alphaII-spectrin, results in the appearance of two uni...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS 2005-09, Vol.62 (17), p.1913-1924
Main Authors: Czogalla, A, Sikorski, A F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aging
Amino Acid Sequence
Biomarkers
Brain Injuries - enzymology
Brain Injuries - pathology
Brain Ischemia - enzymology
Brain Ischemia - pathology
Calpain - metabolism
Cell Death
Cellular biology
Humans
Molecular Sequence Data
Neurology
Neurons - metabolism
Neurons - pathology
Pathology
Proteases
Proteins
Receptors, Glutamate - drug effects
Review
Spectrin - metabolism
Toxins, Biological - pharmacology
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:It is well documented that activation of calpain, a calcium-sensitive cysteine protease, marks the pathology of naturally and experimentally occurring neurodegenerative conditions. Calpain-mediated proteolysis of major membrane-skeletal protein, alphaII-spectrin, results in the appearance of two unique and highly stable breakdown products, which is an early event in neural cell pathology. This review focuses on spectrin degradation by calpain within neurons induced by diverse conditions, emphasizing a current picture of multi-pattern neuronal death and a recent success in the development of spectrin-based biomarkers. The issue is presented in the context of the major structural and functional properties of the two proteins.
ISSN:1420-682X
1420-9071
DOI:10.1007/s00018-005-5097-0