title: Alterations in neuronal gene expression profiles in response to experimental demyelination and axonal transection.
abstract: The main pathological features of multiple sclerosis, demyelination and axonal transection, are considered to cause reversible and irreversible neurological deficits, respectively. This study aimed to separately analyze the effects of these pathological hallmarks on neuronal gene expression in experimental paradigms. The pontocerebellar pathway was targeted with either lysolecithin-induced chemical demyelination or a complete pathway transection (axonal transection) in rats. Transcriptional changes in the pontocerebellar neurons were investigated with microarrays at days 4, 10 and 37 post-intervention, which was confirmed by immunohistochemistry on protein level. A common as well as unique set of injury-response genes was identified. The increased expression of activating transcription factor 3 (Atf3) and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (Trh) in both injury paradigms was validated by immunohistochemistry. The expression of Atf3 in a patient with Marburg's variant of multiple sclerosis was also detected, also confirming the activation of the Atf3 pathway in a human disease sample. It was concluded that this experimental approach may be useful for the identification of pathways that could be targeted for remyelinative or neuroprotective drug development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Semmelweis University, Department of Neurology Budapest, Balassa str. 6, Budapest, H-1083 Hungary. lovasgab@hotmail.com
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lovas
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Hudson
mesh_terms: D051700:Activating Transcription Factor 3 / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008244:Lysophosphatidylcholines; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D011149:Pons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013973:Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000235:genetics; D013997:Time Factors; D020196:Trauma, Nervous System / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: C490449:ATF3 protein, human; D051700:Activating Transcription Factor 3; C497108:Atf3 protein, rat; D008244:Lysophosphatidylcholines; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D013973:Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone