title: Characteristic phosphorylation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway after kainate-induced seizures in the rat hippocampus.
abstract: Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways play a crucial role in cell growth and long-lasting neuronal plasticity. Several studies have shown that phosphorylated-ERK (p-ERK) significantly increases after kainic acid (KA) administration. However, little or no information is available about the spatial distribution of p-ERK after KA-induced seizures. We herein show that KA-induced seizures significantly increase p-ERK in both neurons and astrocytes in rat brain using Western blots and immunohistochemistry. A strong immunoreactivity for p-ERK was induced in the dentate hilar neurons and CA3 neurons 30 mins and 6 hrs after KA injection. In addition, immunoreactivity for p-ERK was seen in astrocytes 6 hrs after KA injection. 72 hrs after KA injection, all pyramidal neurons had died. These findings suggest that the ERK pathway participates in the KA-induced neurotoxicity in the rat hippocampus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, National Defense Medical College, Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan. grd1405@gr.ndmc.ac.jp
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Otani
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nawashiro
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Katoh
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohnuki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyazawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shima
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D015153:Blotting, Western; D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D007608:Kainic Acid; D008297:Male; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013194:Staining and Labeling
chemical_list: D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D007608:Kainic Acid