title: Pertussis toxin administration increases the expression of proneurotensin and preproenkephalin A mRNAs in rat striatum.
abstract: The effect of a unilateral intrastriatal microinjection of pertussis toxin on the expression of proneurotensin and preproenkephalin A mRNAs in the adult rat neostriatum was investigated using a technique of non-radioactive in situ hybridization. Control sham microinjected animals received an equal volume of vehicle only and were processed in parallel with the pertussis toxin-treated rats. All rats were allowed to recover from the stereotaxic surgery for 22 h before being killed and their brains rapidly removed and processed for in situ hybridization using alkaline phosphatase-labelled oligonucleotide probes. In comparison to sham microinjected rats, a single intrastriatal microinjection of pertussis toxin (1 microgram) resulted in a significant increase in the amount of both proneurotensin and preproenkephalin A mRNAs in the ipsilateral neostriatum. For proneurotensin mRNA, this increase was reflected by a substantial increase in the number of mRNA-containing cells detected. Proneurotensin mRNA-containing cells detected in the nucleus accumbens appeared to be unaffected by the intrastriatal pertussis toxin microinjection. In contrast, the significant increase in preproenkephalin A mRNA, when compared to the contralateral uninjected striatum and the ipsilateral striatum of control sham injected rats, was reflected by an increase in the cellular amount of preproenkephalin A mRNA and not by an increase in the number of mRNA-containing cells detected. These results demonstrate that the expression of both proneurotensin mRNA and preproenkephalin A mRNA in the adult rat striatum are rapidly increased in vivo by an intrastriatal microinjection of pertussis toxin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroendocrinology, AFRC Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics Research, Babraham, Cambridge, U.K.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Augood
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Emson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D003720:Densitometry; D004745:Enkephalins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005295:Ferrocyanides; D008297:Male; D008845:Microinjections; D009496:Neurotensin / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D037342:Pertussis Toxin; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques; D010566:Virulence Factors, Bordetella / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D004745:Enkephalins; D005295:Ferrocyanides; D011498:Protein Precursors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D010566:Virulence Factors, Bordetella; D009496:Neurotensin; C033660:preproenkephalin; D037342:Pertussis Toxin; C000170:ferric ferrocyanide