title: Calpain activity and translational expression increased in spinal cord injury.
abstract: Calpain, a calcium-activated neutral proteinase, has been implicated in myelin and cytoskeletal protein degradation following spinal cord injury. In the present study, we examined the activity and transcriptional expression of calpain in spinal cord injury lesions via Western blotting analysis and RT-PCR, respectively. No increases in transcriptional expression of calpain or calpastatin, the endogenous inhibitor, were observed in the lesion at 1, 4, 24, and 72 h following injury. However, calpain activity (as measured by calpain-specific degradation of the endogenous substrate fodrin) was marginally increased at 4 h and significantly increased by 129.8% at 48 h compared to sham controls after injury. Calpain translational expression was localized in injured spinal cords using double immunofluorescent labeling which revealed increased calpain expression in astrocytes compared to sham controls. These results suggest that calpain produced by astrocytes located in or near spinal cord injury lesions may participate in myelin/axon degeneration following injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical University of South Carolina, 171 Ashley Avenue, Charleston, SC 29425, USA.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Shields
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Saido
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Matzelle
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Wilford
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Hogan
authors.forename: N L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Banik
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002154:Calpain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000378:metabolism*; D013049:Spectrin
chemical_list: D002154:Calpain; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D013049:Spectrin