title: Expression of Fos-like immunoreactivity in the brain and spinal cord of rats following middle cerebral artery occlusion.
abstract: This study examined c-fos protein expression in the brain and spinal cord of rats following permanent occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) above the rhinal fissure. At 1 h after right-sided MCA occlusion, Fos-like immunoreactivity (Fos-LI) was detected in neurons not only in the ipsilateral cerebral cortex but also in the spinal cord. In the latter, Fos-LI was localized in the nucleus and perikarya of neurons in the grey matter, notably the large motor neurons in the ventral horn. Fos-LI was most intense at 2-4 h, but became undetectable after 48 h in the cerebral cortex and 72 h in the spinal cord. In sham-operated animals, Fos-LI was almost undetectable or virtually absent. It was also not detected in the core territory supplied by the MCA at any time points after arterial occlusion. When the ischaemia-induced neuronal damage in both the cerebral cortex and spinal cord was evaluated by Nissl staining, some neurons appeared atrophic. We conclude that the induction of Fos-LI in neurons of the cerebral cortex and spinal cord is linked respectively to early onset-short stimulation and persistent excitatory or disinhibition phenomenon as a result of focal ischaemic brain injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
authors.forename: Y P
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Ling
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000502:physiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos