Stroke research at a crossroad: asking the brain for directions
Top Cited Papers
- 26 October 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Neuroscience
- Vol. 14 (11), 1363-1368
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2953
Abstract
There remains an urgent need to develop new strategies and therapies to help protect the brain from ischemic cell death. In this perspective, the authors suggest that learning more about the mechanisms that underlie brain self-preservation and developing multifaceted approaches that act on multiple pathways involved in both cell death and neuroprotection may advance our efforts to treat stroke. Ischemic stroke remains a vexing public health problem. Although progress has been made in prevention and supportive care, efforts to protect the brain from ischemic cell death have failed. Thus, no new treatment has made it from bench to bedside since tissue plasminogen activator was introduced in 1996. The brain has a remarkable capacity for self-preservation, illustrated by the protective responses induced by ischemia, preconditioning and exercise. Here we describe the mechanisms underlying brain self-protection, with the goal of identifying features that could provide insight into stroke therapy. Unlike traditional therapeutic approaches based on counteracting selected pathways of the ischemic cascade, endogenous neuroprotection relies on coordinated neurovascular programs that support cerebral perfusion, mitigate the harmful effects of cerebral ischemia and promote tissue restoration. Learning how the brain triggers and implements these protective measures may advance our quest to treat stroke.Keywords
This publication has 50 references indexed in Scilit:
- Remote Ischemic Limb Preconditioning After Subarachnoid HemorrhageStroke, 2011
- Minocycline Development for Acute Ischemic StrokeTranslational Stroke Research, 2011
- Timeliness of Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator Therapy in Acute Ischemic StrokeCirculation, 2011
- Remote ischemic preconditioning prevents systemic platelet activation associated with ischemia–reperfusion injury in humansJournal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 2011
- Reducing excessive GABA-mediated tonic inhibition promotes functional recovery after strokeNature, 2010
- Exercise modulates insulin-like growth factor 1-dependent and -independent effects on adult hippocampal neurogenesis and behaviourMolecular and Cellular Neuroscience, 2010
- Erythropoietin in stroke: quo vadisExpert Opinion on Biological Therapy, 2010
- Toward a comprehensive neurobiology of IGF‐IDevelopmental Neurobiology, 2010
- GMF-Knockout Mice are Unable to Induce Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor after ExerciseNeurochemical Research, 2006
- The Protective Effects of Preconditioning on Cerebral Endothelial Cells in VitroJournal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 2003