ISSN:
1573-6903
Keywords:
Cultured granule cells
;
apoptosis
;
primary response genes
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract Cultured cerebellar granule cells underwent apoptotic degeneration when grown in medium containing 10 instead of 25 mM K+. Knowing that apoptosis is associated with changes in the expression of primary response genes, we have measured c-fos, zif/268, and c-jun mRNA levels during maturation of cultured granule cells grown in 10 or 25 mM K+. The constitutive expression of c-fos and zif/268 was differentially regulated by extracellular K+ concentration at 5 days of maturation in vitro (DIV), when cells grown under suboptimal conditions (i.e. in 10 mM K+) are committed to degenerate. At this stage, c-fos mRNA levels were detectable only in cultures grown in 25 mM K+, whereas zif/268 mRNA levels were dramatically elevated in cultures grown in 10 mM K+. This provides one of the few conditions in which c-fos and zif/268 are differentially regulated in nerve cells. Substantial changes in c-jun, or β-actin mRNA levels were detectable only at 7 DIV, when the percentage of apoptotic cells had already reached a plateau in ultures grown in 10 mM K+. We speculate that changes in the expression of zif/268 are important in the gene program associated with the induction of apoptosis by trophic deprivation in cultured neurons.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01694544
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