title: Acute activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases following traumatic brain injury in the rat: implications for posttraumatic cell death.
abstract: The regional activation (via phosphorylation) of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathways was examined using immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry following experimental brain injury. Anesthetized rats were subjected to lateral fluid-percussion brain injury of moderate severity (2.4-2.6 atm) and euthanized at 2, 6, 24, and 72 h after injury; sham-injured animals were surgically prepared but were not injured. Immunohistochemical evidence of activation of JNK and ERK1/2 pathways was observed predominantly in regions that exhibit neural cell apoptosis and axonal damage following brain trauma. Activation of the ERK1/2 pathway was observed as early as 2 h and up to 72 h postinjury in nonneuronal cells in all layers of the cortex at the site of maximal injury, in the white matter below the site of maximal cortical damage and in the thalamus. In contrast, activation of JNK signaling was observed only at 24 and 72 h postinjury in a few neurons at the core of the cortical injury site. However, robust JNK activation was observed between 2 and 72 h postinjury in both axons and nonneuronal cells in the white matter below the site of maximal cortical damage and in the thalamus. Activation of ERK1/2, but not JNK, was observed in cells in the dentate hilus in the hippocampus in both hemispheres between 2 and 24 h postinjury. Immunoblotting analyses of extracts from various brain regions did not reveal significant alterations in intensities of either total or phosphorylated proteins underscoring the focal nature of the immunohistochemical observations. However, these results suggest that activation of MAP kinase signaling pathways may be associated with posttraumatic cell damage and are indicative of the heterogeneous nature of the mechanisms underlying regional cell death following TBI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. rramesh@drexel.edu
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Raghupathi
authors.forename: Judith K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Muir
authors.forename: Carl T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Fulp
authors.forename: Randall N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Pittman
authors.forename: Tracy K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: McIntosh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D016923:Cell Death; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018450:Disease Progression; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D008297:Male; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013788:Thalamus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases