title: Age-associated changes of rat brain neuronal and astroglial poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase activity.
abstract: Nuclear poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase levels as well as the DNA strand break levels of whole-brain neuronal and astroglial cells were investigated. Three- and 30-month-old rats were used. Low-molecular-weight neurofilaments and glutamine synthetase served as neuronal and astroglial markers, respectively. A large increase in the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase activity was observed in the neurons (threefold) and astrocytes (3.7-fold) derived from 30-month-old rats. Similarly, the amount of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, evaluated per milligram of DNA, increased approximately 3.5-fold in neurons and 3.9-fold in astrocytes prepared from 30-month-old rats. Whether the increase in the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase activity was due to an enhanced rate of DNA strand break was investigated by determining the rate of DNA unwinding. A significant increase in DNA unwinding rate was detected in the neurons (2.7-fold), although a lower increase was observed in the astroglia (1.3-fold) of aged animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Isfahan Medical Sciences University, Iran.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Messripour
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weltin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rastegar
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ciesielski
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kopp
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chabert
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mandel
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000201:enzymology*; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D004247:DNA; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology*; D011065:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D011065:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases