title: Amelioration of hippocampal neuronal damage after global ischemia by neuronal overexpression of BCL-2 in transgenic mice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Reports suggesting the involvement of apoptosis in ischemic neuronal damage have been accumulating, and protection against apoptotic death by BCL-2 has been shown in many types of cells. Overexpression of BCL-2 has been shown to reduce infarct size after focal ischemia. The purpose of the present study was to assess whether BCL-2 exerted its effect on selective neuronal vulnerability after transient global ischemia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Transgenic mice overexpressing BCL-2 in neurons and their littermates were subjected to transient forebrain ischemia for 12 minutes, and the hippocampus was examined 7 days later with conventional histology, immunohistochemistry, and in situ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling of fragmented DNA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although both types of mice showed a similar degree of ischemic insult, transgenic mice showed a lesser degree of neuronal death together with DNA fragmentation in the hippocampus than their littermates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overexpression of BCL-2 in neurons mitigates selective neuronal vulnerability in the hippocampus of transgenic mice after transient global ischemia.
authors.affiliation: Division of Strokology, First Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka University Medical, Osaka, Japan. kitagawa@medone.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kitagawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsujimoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohtsuki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuwabara
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsushita
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanabe
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Martinou
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yanagihara
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic / Q000235:genetics; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2