title: Age-related changes in the regulation of transcription factor NF-kappa B in rat brain.
abstract: Aging process involves an increase in stress at cellular level. We studied whether aging affects the regulation of stress responsive transcription factor NF-kappa B in brain samples of Wistar rats. Hippocampus, cerebellum, and temporal and frontal lobes of cortex were studied. We observed a significant up-regulation in the constitutive, nucleus-located NF-kappa B binding activity in 30-month-old Wistar rats compared to young and 18-month-old rats. The increase was most prominent in cerebellum and in frontal cortex, but age-related changes did not occur in hippocampus. Inducible, cytoplasmic NF-kappa B binding activity was not affected by aging in any of the samples studied. Western blot assays did not show any age-related changes in the nuclear level of p50, p52, and p65 protein components of NF-kappa B complex. Cytoplasmic level of inhibitory I kappa B-alpha was also unaffected. The increase in nuclear constitutive NF-kappa B binding activity during aging may be related to the NF-kappa B driven cellular response to adapt neurons against apoptotic pressure, as observed recently in several apoptotic conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Neurology, University of Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Korhonen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Helenius
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salminen
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000235:genetics*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011485:Protein Binding; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D016328:NF-kappa B; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins