title: Upregulation of cytosolic branched chain aminotransferase in substantia nigra following developmental striatal target injury.
abstract: We have previously shown that apoptotic cell death can be induced in substantia nigra (SN) by developmental striatal target lesion. In this model, only a portion of nigral neurons dies, so it provides a paradigm to examine not only the molecular basis of cell death, but also the cellular responses of adjacent neurons which survive. Using a differential display approach, we have found that cytosolic branched chain aminotransferase (BCATc) mRNA is upregulated in SN in this model. This upregulation is associated with an increased number of BCATc-positive neuronal profiles, demonstrated by immunostaining. BCATc-positive neurons show normal morphology and rarely contain apoptotic chromatin. We conclude that BCATc is upregulated in neurons, which are likely to survive, and plays a role in either maintenance of viability or restoration of normal function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Columbia University, The College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: N G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Kholodilov
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Neystat
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Oo
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hutson
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Burke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D003600:Cytosol / Q000201:enzymology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017378:Quinolinic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism; D000637:Transaminases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000637:Transaminases; D017378:Quinolinic Acid