title: Increased expression of phosphorylated Smad2 and Smad3 in the hippocampus of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.
abstract: Activation of the Smad signalling pathway has been implicated in the pathological process of diabetic associated complications. The current study was designed to see whether Smad signalling was activated in the hippocampus of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Compared with vehicle-treated controls, immunoblot analysis of hippocampal extracts showed that phosphorylated Smad2 was upregulated at 8 weeks post streptozotocin induction (p<0.01), and phosphorylated Smad3 protein was upregulated at 4 and 8 weeks post streptozotocin induction (p<0.01) in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. In addition, immunofluorescence labelling assay showed that the percentage of pSmad2 immunoreactive astrocytes increased significantly in CA1, CA3 and dentate gyrus region (p<0.01), and pSmad3 immunoreactive astrocytes increased significantly in CA1 region (p<0.01) and in CA3 and dentate gyrus region (p<0.05) of the hippocampus in diabetic rats. These data indicate that Smad signalling is enhanced in hippocampal astrocytes of diabetic rats, and may thereby represent a clue to explore its exact role in the development of diabetic encephalopathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Y-Q
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: J-J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Z-M
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D056547:CA1 Region, Hippocampal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D056654:CA3 Region, Hippocampal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051899:Smad2 Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D051900:Smad3 Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D051899:Smad2 Protein; C497784:Smad2 protein, rat; D051900:Smad3 Protein; C497787:Smad3 protein, rat