Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Traumatic brain injury

Tissue-type plasminogen activator—harmful or beneficial?

The introduction of recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) revolutionized stroke treatment, but experimental studies have suggested potential toxic effects of this molecule on various components of the CNS. Two new studies have added further insight into the complex CNS effects of tPA following traumatic brain injury and brain ischaemia.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Yepes, M., Roussel, B. D., Ali, C. & Vivien, D. Tissue-type plasminogen activator in the ischemic brain: more than a thrombolytic. Trends Neurosci. 32, 48–55 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Sashindranath, M. et al. The tissue-type plasminogen activator–plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 complex promotes neurovascular injury in brain trauma: evidence from mice and humans. Brain http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/brain/aws178.

  3. Wu, F. et al. Tissue-type plasminogen activator regulates the neuronal uptake of glucose in the ischemic brain. J. Neurosci. 32, 9848–9858 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Samson, A. L. & Medcalf, R. L. Tissue-type plasminogen activator: a multifaceted modulator of neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity. Neuron 50, 673–678 (2006).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Nagai, N., De Mol, M., Lijnen, H. R., Carmeliet, P. & Collen, D. Role of plasminogen system components in focal cerebral ischemic infarction: a gene targeting and gene transfer study in mice. Circulation 99, 2440–2444 (1999).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Correa, F. et al. Tissue plasminogen activator prevents white matter damage following stroke. J. Exp. Med. 208, 1229–1242 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Echeverry, R., Wu, J., Haile, W. B., Guzman, J. & Yepes, M. Tissue-type plasminogen activator is a neuroprotectant in the mouse hippocampus. J. Clin. Invest. 120, 2194–2205 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Siao, C.-J., Fernandez, S. R. & Tsirka, S. E. Cell type-specific roles for tissue plasminogen activator released by neurons or microglia after excitotoxic injury. J. Neurosci. 23, 3234–3242 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Cassé, F. et al. Glutamate controls tPA recycling by astrocytes, which in turn influences glutamatergic signals. J. Neurosci. 32, 5186–5199 (2012).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Parcq, J. et al. Unveiling an exceptional zymogen: the single-chain form of tPA is a selective activator of NMDA receptor-dependent signaling and neurotoxicity. Cell Death Differ. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/cdd.2012.86.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Denis Vivien.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Vivien, D., Ali, C. Tissue-type plasminogen activator—harmful or beneficial?. Nat Rev Neurol 8, 538–539 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2012.192

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2012.192

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing