Lipid peroxidation is a key contributor to the pathophysiology of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Traditional antioxidant therapies are intended to scavenge the free radicals responsible for either the initiation or propagation of lipid peroxidation (LP). However, targeting free radicals after TBI is difficult as they rapidly react with other cellular macromolecules, and thus has a limited post-injury time window in which they may be intercepted by a radical scavenging agent. In contrast, our laboratory has begun testing an antioxidant approach that scavenges the final stages of LP i.e. formation of carbonyl-containing breakdown products. By scavenging breakdown products such as the highly reactive and neurotoxic aldehydes (often referred to as “carbonyls”) 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) and acrolein (ACR), we are able to prevent the covalent modification of cellular proteins that are largely responsible for posttraumatic neurodegeneration. Without intervention, carbonyl additions render cellular proteins non-functional which initiates the loss of ionic homeostasis, mitochondrial failure, and subsequent neuronal death. Phenelzine (PZ) is an FDA-approved monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor traditionally used for the treatment of depression. Phenelzine also possesses a hydrazine functional group capable of covalently binding neurotoxic carbonyls. The hypothesis of this dissertation is that carbonyl scavenging with PZ will exert an antioxidant neuroprotective effect in the traumatically injured rat brain mechanistically related to PZ’s hydrazine moiety reacting with the lipid peroxidation (LP)-derived reactive aldehydes 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) and acrolein (ACR). Data from our ex vivo experiments demonstrate that the exogenous application of 4-HNE or ACR significantly reduced respiratory function and increased markers of oxidative damage in isolated non-injured rat cortical mitochondria, whereas PZ pre-treatment significantly prevented mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative modification of mitochondrial proteins in a concentration-related manner. Additionally, PZ’s neuroprotective scavenging mechanism was confirmed to require the presence of a hydrazine moiety based on experiments with a structurally similar MAO inhibitor, pargyline, which lacks the hydrazine group and did not protect the isolated mitochondria from 4-HNE and ACR. Our in vivo work demonstrates that subcutaneous injections of PZ following TBI in the rat are able to significantly protect brain mitochondrial respiratory function, decrease markers of oxidative damage, protect mitochondrial calcium buffering capacity, and increase cortical tissue sparing without decreasing neuronal cytoskeletal spectrin degradation. These results confirm that PZ is capable of protecting mitochondrial function and providing neuroprotection after experimental TBI related to scavenging of neurotoxic LP degradation products.

Mitochondria are essential for promoting cell survival and growth through aerobic metabolism and energy production. Mitochondrial function is typically analyzed using mitochondria freshly isolated from tissues and cells because they yield tightly coupled mitochondria, whereas those from frozen tissue can consist of broken mitochondria and membrane fragments. A method, utilizing a well-characterized cryoprotectant such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), is described. Such mitochondria show preserved structure and function that presents us with a possible strategy to considerably expand the time-frame and the range of biochemical, molecular and metabolic studies that can be performed without the constraints of mitochondrial longevity ex vivo. Mitochondrial dysfunction is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) mainly through oxidative stress and altered metabolism. Mitochondria are isolated from post-mortem brain samples from selective regions of AD and control patients and, utilizing the cryopreservation strategy, analyzed for respiration and oxidative damage. While we did not observe increases in free radicals, we did observe decreased respiration and increases in oxidative damage markers in AD patients, suggesting a role for oxidative stress in mitochondrial dysfunction. While in the mitochondria, calcium (Ca2+) increases free radical generation by processes not completely understood. A new isoform of nitric oxide synthase (mtNOS) has been isolated and localized to mitochondria; though its existence and physiological role is debated. Nitric oxide synthase (NOS), when activated by Ca2+, produces nitric oxide (NO•) that can interact with ROS producing various reactive nitrogen species (RNS). These highly reactive radical species can damage DNA, proteins and lipids, ultimately resulting in cell death via apoptosis or necrosis. The current research is aimed at understanding the role of Ca2+ and NOS in oxidative stress leading to mitochondrial dysfunction. We observed a significant reduction in mitochondrial respiration with increasing doses of calcium. We also observed NOS enzyme activity and detected NOS protein in the purified mitochondrial fraction. Lastly, we were also able to show that Ca2+ increased the levels of free radicals and changes in oxidative damage markers. These results suggest the presence of NOS in mitochondria that could play a role in Ca2+ induced mitochondrial dysfunction and potentially leading to cell death as relevant to aging and neurodegenerative diseases.