Internucleosomal DNA fragmentation during deprived and non-deprived olfactory development.
DNA fragmentation is a key marker of neuronal death during development, yet little is known about the size, pattern or quantities of fragments generated during normal and sensory-deprived development. Since there are few neurons dying at any particular time, it has not been possible to obtain sufficient quantities of material to make such a determination. By using a highly sensitive Taq polymerase-based technique, we revealed DNA fragments of 180 base pairs and multiples thereof both in bulbs and cortex of young rats (P4-P31). The bulbs subjected to olfactory deprivation at P1 had higher levels of internucleosomal DNA fragmentation at P16 than the contra-lateral, non-deprived bulbs. Interestingly, the DNA fragmentation induced by olfactory deprivation displayed a characteristic internucleosomal fragmentation pattern, suggesting that the cells induced to die may do so by apoptosis. A significant inverse correlation between DNA fragmentation and the natural variation in normal bulb size was found, suggesting that bulb size may be related to cell death.
Najbauer
Joseph
J
Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-4550, USA. najbauer@uci.edu
Yan
Xiao-Xin
XX
Leon
Michael
M
D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009707:Nucleosomes / Q000473:pathology*; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology*; D009929:Organ Size; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012683:Sensory Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*
D009707:Nucleosomes