Nicolas G. Bazan is a neuroscientist, eye researcher, and author. His research focuses on neurodegenerative diseases, neuroinflammation (inflammation of nervous tissue), and cell survival using cellular, molecular, and disease models including lipidomics. He also operates "Nicholas Bazan Wines" with Mark Wahle.
Appointments
The Ernest C. and Yvette C. Villere Chair for Research in Retinal Degeneration - Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC), New Orleans, LA, 1984- Professor of Ophthalmology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Neurology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC), School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, 1981- Director (Founder), Neuroscience Center of Excellence, LSUHSC, School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, 1988- Boyd Professor, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC), New Orleans, LA, 1994- Editor-in-Chief, Molecular Neurobiology (Springer), 1986- Senate Member, Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE) (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases) in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft, nationwide research program (Germany), 2009- Editorial Board, Cell Death, and Disease, Nature Publishing Group, 2010- Editorial Board, Cell Death, and Differentiation, Nature Publishing Group, 2011- Member, Biology of the Visual System Study Section, NIH, 2012- Chair of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC) Research Council/Translational Research Initiative, New Orleans
Early life and education Nicolas G. Bazan was born in Los Sarmientos, Tucuman, Argentina on May 22, 1942. He received his MD from the University of Tucuman School of Medicine, Argentina (1965) and was a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons and Harvard Medical School (1965–1968). The research that he performed at Harvard was the basis for his Doctorate in Medical Sciences thesis (University of Tucuman, 1971). He became the founding director of the Louisiana State University Heath Sciences Center (LSUHSC) Neuroscience Center of Excellence in 1989.
Scientific contributions Bazan demonstrated that brain ischemia, a condition that involves reduced blood flow to the brain, triggers the release of free essential fatty acids (arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acid) from membranes during seizures and ischemia through the enzyme phospholipase A2.Bazan NG. Effects of ischemia and electroconvulsive shock on free fatty acid pool in the brain. Biochim Biophys Acta 218:1-10, 1970Bazan NG: Changes in free fatty acids of brain by drug induced convulsions, electroshock and anesthesia. J Neurochem 18:1379-1385, 1971 This finding has been referred to as the "Bazan Effect".Horrocks LA, Farooqui AA. NMDA receptor-stimulated release of arachidonic acid: Mechanisms for the Bazan Effect. In Cell Signal Transduction, Second Messengers, and Protein Phosphorylation in Health and Disease, AM Municio, MT Miras-Portugal (eds), Plenum Press, New York, pgs 113-128, 1994Sun GY, Xu J, Jensen MD, Simonyi A: Phospholipase A2 in central nervous system: Implications for neurodegeneration diseases. J Lipid Res 45:205-213, 2004
In the early 70's, his laboratory isolated a diacylglycerol containing docosahexaenoyl chains in C1 and C2 from the retina, demonstrated that this lipid is present in this tissue in relatively large proportions,Aveldano MI, Bazan NG. High content of docosahexaenoate and of total diacylglycerol in retina. Biochem Biophys Res Comm 48:689-693, 1972.Aveldano MI, Bazan NG. Fatty acid composition and level of diacylglycerols and phosphoglycerides in brain and retina. Biochim Biophys Aca 296:1-9, 1973 and uncovered novel molecular species of phospholipids (containing two docosahexaenoyl chains; coined the term "supraenoic" molecular species) displaying very rapid turnover.Aveldano de Caldironi MI, Bazan NG: Composition and biosynthesis of molecular species of retina phosphoglycerides. Neurochem Internat 1:381-392, 1980Aveldano MI, Bazan NG: Molecular species of phosphatidylcholine, ethanolamine, serine and inositol in microsomal and photoreceptor membranes of bovine retina. J Lipid Res 24:620-627, 1983Aveldano MI, Pasquare de Garcia SJ, Bazan NG: Biosynthesis of molecular species of inositol, choline, serine, and ethanolamine glycerophospholipids in the bovine retina. J Lipid Res 24:628-638, 1983
In 1975, he and his colleagues showed that the brains of newborn mammals and organisms that cannot regulate their own body temperature accumulate free arachidonic acid sluggishly, correlating with the known resistance of these animals to anoxia. In contrast, animals that are able to regulate body temperature are vulnerable to relatively short periods of a severe absence of oxygen, rapidly accumulate arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acid as a result of phospholipase A2 activation.Aveldano MI, Bazan NG: Differential lipid deacylation during brain ischemia in a homeotherm and a poikilotherm. Content and composition of free fatty acids and triacylglycerols. Brain Res 100:99-110, 1975 Also, his laboratory found that the diacylglycerol accumulated in the brain during ischemia is derived from inositol lipids and postulated that selective vulnerability at synapses engages the degradation of inositol lipids.Aveldano MI, Bazan NG: Rapid production of diacylglycerols enriched in arachidonate and stearate during early brain ischemia. J Neurochem 25:919-920, 1975
In 1980, he and his colleagues described those molecular species of phospholipids in photoreceptors contain two docosahexaenoyl chains per molecule, rather than a saturated chain at C1 and an unsaturated chain at C2, confirming their initial observation of the 70s.Aveldano de Caldironi MI, Bazan NG. Acyl groups, molecular species and labeling by 14C-glycerol and 3H-arachidonic acid of vertebrate retina glycerolipids. In Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, Fucntino and Biosynthesis of Lipids, Vol 83, NG Bazan, RR Brenner, NM Giusto (esd), Plenum Press, New York, pgs 397-404, 1997. Also, he and his colleagues identified inositol lipid degradation and phospholipase A2 activation in neural cell damage in experimental epilepsy and stroke.Rodriguez de Turco EB, Morelli de Liberti S, Bazan NG: Stimulation of free fatty acid and diacylglycerol accumulation in cerebrum and cerebellum during bicuculline induced status epilepticus. Effect of pretreatment with alpha methyl p tyrosine and p chlorophenyl¬alamine. J Neurochem 40:252-259, 1983Van Rooijen LAA, Vadnal R, Dobard P, Bazan NG: Enhanced inositide turnover in brain during bicuculline induced status epilepticus. Biochim Biophys Res Comm 136:827-834, 1986Vadnal RE, Bazan NG: Electroconvulsive shock stimulates polyphosphoinositide degradation and inositol trisphosphate accumulation in rat cerebrum: Lithium pretreatment does not potentiate these changes. Neurosci Lett 80:75-79, 1987Reddy TS, Bazan NG: Arachidonic acid, stearic acid and diacylglycerol accumulation correlates with the loss of phosphatidylinositol 4,5 bisphosphate in cerebrum 2 seconds after electroconvulsive shock. Complete reversion of changes 5 minutes after stimulation. J Neurosci Res 18:449-455, 1987Vadnal RE, Bazan NG: Carbamazepine inhibits the electroconvulsive shock induced [H] IP3 accumulation in rat cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Biochem Biophys Res Comm 153:128-134, 1988Katsura K, Rodriguez de Turco EB, Folbergrová J, Bazan NG, Siesjö: The coupling among energy failure, loss of ion homeostasis, and lipolysis during ischemia. J Neurochem 61:1677-1684, 1993Bazan NG, Allan G, Rodriguez de Turco EB: Role of phospholipase A2 and membrane-derived lipid second messengers in excitable membrane function and transcriptional activation of genes. Implications in cerebral ischemia. Prog in Brain Res 96:247-257, 1993
He and his colleagues showed in 1979 that phospholipase A2 activation, which gives rise to brain-free arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acid upon stimulation, is related to neurotransmission. In addition, he showed that the concept commonly described in textbooks, that the essential fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid is introduced through the acylation-deacylation cycle in retina membranes (and in other excitable membranes), is incorrect. Rather, they demonstrated that this fatty acid is introduced to a large extent through the de novo synthesis of phosphatidic acid.Giusto NM, Bazan NG: Phosphatidic acid of retinal microsomes contains a high proportion of docosahexaenoate. Biochem Biophys Res Comm 91:791-794, 1979Bazan NG, di Fazio de Escalante MS, Careaga MM, Bazan HEP, Giusto NM: High content of 22:6 (docosahexaenoate) and active [2-3H]glycerol metabolism of phosphatidic acid from photoreceptor membranes. Biochim Biophys Acta 712:702-706, 1982Bazan HEP, Careaga MM, Sprecher H, Bazan NG: Chain elongation and desaturation of eicosapentaenoate to docosahexaenoate and phospholipid labeling in the rat retina in vivo. Biochim Biophys Acta 712:123-128, 1982Bazan HEP, Sprecher H, Bazan NG: De novo biosynthesis of docosahexaenoyl phosphatidic acid in bovine retinal microsomes. Biochim Biophys Acta 796:11-19, 1984
His laboratory later identified an activating enzyme for docosahexaenoic acid with very low Km, which allows photoreceptors and other excitable membranes to retain this fatty acid.Reddy TS, Bazan NG: Kinetic properties of arachidonoyl coenzyme A synthetase in rat brain microsomes. Arch Biochem Biophys 226:125-133, 1983Reddy TS, Sprecher H, Bazan NG: Long chain acyl coenzyme A synthetase from rat brain microsomes: Kinetic studies using [1-14C]docosahexaenoic acid substrate. Eur J Biochem 145:21-29, 1984 Also in a series of studies, they found that leukotrienes, HETEs (hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids), inositol lipids, and prostaglandins are key molecules in the communication between retinal pigment epithelial cells and photoreceptors.Birkle DL, Bazan NG: Lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase reaction products and incorporation into glycerolipids of radiolabeled arachidonic acid in the bovine retina. Prostaglandins 27:203-216, 1984Birkle DL, Bazan NG: Effects of K+ depolarization on the synthesis of prostaglandins and hydroxyeicosatetra(5,8,11,14)enoic acids (HETE) in the rat retina. Evidence for esterification of 12 HETE in lipids. Biochim Biophys Acta 795:564-573, 1984Bazan NG, Birkle DL, Reddy TS: Docosahexaenoic acid (22:6, n 3) is metabolized to lipoxygenase reaction products in the retina. Biochem Biophys Res Comm 125:741-747, 1984Beuckmann CT, Gordon WC, Kanaoka Y, Eguchi N, Marcheselli VL, Gerashchenko DY, Urade Y, Hayaishi O, Bazan NG: Lipocalin-type prostaglandin D synthase (β-trace) is located in pigment epithelial cells of rat retina and accumulates within interphotoreceptor matrix. J Neurosci 16:6119-6124, 1996