title: Increase of the ornithine decarboxylase/polyamine system and transglutaminase upregulation in the spinal cord of aged rats.
abstract: We have investigated changes in ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and in polyamine levels in the central nervous system of aged rats. We measured a significant increase of ODC catalytic activity in the spinal cord from 30 month-old rats (+105%) as compared to 4 month-old rats. No changes were noticed in the cerebellum, cortex and hippocampus from the same animals. A related putrescine increase was measured in the spinal cord of 30 month-old rats (+168%), together with a smaller increase of spermidine (+33%). A parallel increase (+78%) of the Ca2+-dependent transglutaminase activity was detected in the spinal cord of 30 month-old rats, while no changes were apparent in the cortex and cerebellum. Our observations indicate a possible role of the ODC/polyamine system during the normal process of ageing in rats and point to the spinal cord as the most sensitive area for this kind of modification. A possible role of protein polyamination by transglutaminase is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Bologna, Via Selmi 3, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Virgili
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Necchi
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scherini
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Contestabile
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D015317:Biogenic Polyamines / Q000378:metabolism*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000378:metabolism; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D009955:Ornithine Decarboxylase / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism*; D011503:Transglutaminases / Q000378:metabolism*; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015317:Biogenic Polyamines; D011503:Transglutaminases; D009955:Ornithine Decarboxylase