New frontiers in cerebral vasospasm: Signaling pathways

The current pharmacological treatment for cerebral vasospasm includes non-selective vasodilatation and the specific targeting of selective receptors or signaling pathways. We have explored the signaling pathways of cerebral vasospasm and have developed anti-vasospasm therapies accordingly. We used several different animal models of cerebral vasospasm and found that one signaling cascade called protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) and its substrate, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), may be associated with the pathogenesis of cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). This discovery was consistently supported by pharmacological, molecular biological and histological studies. These new experimental therapies may have great potential in the clinical management of cerebral vasospasm.