Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.
Non-UMass Amherst users, please click the view more button below to purchase a copy of this dissertation from Proquest.
(Some titles may also be available free of charge in our Open Access Dissertation Collection, so please check there first.)
Delayed anesthetic preconditioning and metallothioneins I+II: Novel mediators of anesthetic-induced protection
Abstract
Ischemic injury is a common and debilitating outcome of natural illness and as a complication of commonly performed medical procedures. Whereas naturally occurring ischemic insults are often the result of unpredictable events, such as in the case of stroke or heart attack, the risk of operative and perioperative ischemia is somewhat better characterized in the clinical setting. Given the prevalence and severity of outcomes in ischemic injury, there is significant interest in developing better pharmacological and procedural approaches to improve patient outcomes. One approach that has shown significant promise in the laboratory setting, particularly in the context of planned medical procedures, is the use of delayed anesthetic preconditioning. Delayed anesthetic preconditioning is a phenomenon whereby a prior exposure to clinical concentrations of commonly used inhaled anesthetics, including isoflurane, induces the production of endogenous protective proteins that are able to provide robust protection against subsequent, potentially toxic, ischemic insults. Although many aspects of delayed anesthetic preconditioning have been previously described, a complete understanding of preconditioning mechanism has yet to emerge. The studies described in this dissertation aim to further our understanding of molecular mechanisms involved in delayed anesthetic preconditioning. In the first project, I used DNA microarray to identify genes that were differentially expressed in adult rat liver, kidney and heart following a clinically relevant exposure to the inhaled anesthetic isoflurane. By selecting those genes that were differentially expressed in multiple tissues, I was able to identify a small group of interesting genes for further study. In my second study, I chose from our list two related genes, metallothioneins I + II, to analyze for a role in anesthetic-mediated protection. Using a combination of approaches, I was able to establish that metallotioneins I + II play an essential role in delayed anesthetic preconditioning. In the final study of this dissertation I explore a possible role for metallothioneins I + II as sensor molecules, involved in detecting cellular oxidative stress. Taken together, these three studies represent an important contribution to our understanding of the mechanisms of delayed anesthetic preconditioning and how they might contribute to protecting against ischemic stroke.
Subject Area
Cellular biology
Recommended Citation
Edmands, Scott, "Delayed anesthetic preconditioning and metallothioneins I+II: Novel mediators of anesthetic-induced protection" (2009). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI3372262.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI3372262