title: Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase antisense oligodeoxynucleotides protect against cytosine arabinonucleoside-induced apoptosis in cultured cerebellar neurons.
abstract: Cytosine arabinonucleoside (AraC) is a pyrimidine antimetabolite that kills proliferating cells by inhibiting DNA synthesis and, importantly, is also an inducer of apoptosis. We recently reported that age-induced apoptotic cell death of cultured cerebellar neurons is directly associated with an over-expression of a particulate 38-kDa protein, identified by us as glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH; EC 1.2.1.12). We now show that the AraC-induced neuronal death of immature cerebellar granule cells in culture is effectively delayed by actinomycin-D, cycloheximide, or aurintricarboxylic acid (a DNase inhibitor). Furthermore, two GAPDH antisense, but not their corresponding sense, oligodeoxyribonucleotides markedly arrested AraC-induced apoptosis. This protection was more effective than that induced by the above-mentioned classical inhibitors of apoptosis. Prior to AraC-induced neuronal death, GAPDH mRNA levels increased by approximately 2.5-fold, and this mRNA accumulation was blocked by actinomycin-D and the GAPDH antisense (but not sense) oligonucleotide. Like actinomycin-D, a GAPDH antisense oligonucleotide also suppressed the AraC-induced over-expression of the 38-kDa particulate protein (i.e., GAPDH), while the corresponding sense oligonucleotide was totally ineffective. Thus, the present results show that GAPDH over-expression is involved in AraC-induced apoptosis of cultured cerebellar granule cells.
authors.affiliation: Group on Cellular Neurobiology, Josai University, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ishitani
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Chuang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005987:Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology*; D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D003561:Cytarabine; D005987:Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases