title: Changes in autophagy proteins in a rat model of controlled cortical impact induced brain injury.
abstract: Autophagy has been implicated in several neurodegenerative diseases and recently its role in acute brain injury has received increased interest. In our study, we investigated the profiles of autophagy-linked proteins (MAP-LC3 (Atg8), beclin-1 (Atg6) and the beclin-1-binding protein, bcl-2, following controlled cortical impact injury in rats--a model for moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury. We observed significant increases in the levels of the processed form of LC3 (LC3-II) in the ipsilateral cortex 2h to 2 days after injury when compared to sham. Furthermore, the beclin-1/bcl-2 ratio in the ipsilateral cortex was found to have increased from 1 and 2 days after injury. Since both of these changes are established autophagy-enabling events, and, based on these data, we propose that autophagy, plays a role in the manifestation of cell injury following brain trauma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
authors.forename: Shankar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sadasivan
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.forename: Ronald L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: Kevin K W
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D001343:Autophagy; D000071186:Beclin-1; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000378:metabolism*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D000071186:Beclin-1; C512829:Becn1 protein, rat; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2