Increased immunoreactivities of cleaved αII-spectrin and cleaved caspase-3 in the aged dog spinal cord.
The activation of caspase-3 is considered to be a reliable marker for apoptotic cell death, and a 120-kDa fragment of αII-spectrin is generated by caspase-3 mediated cleavage of this structural protein. In the present study, we compared cleaved αII-spectrin (120-kDa) and cleaved caspase-3-immunoreactive cells and their protein levels in the cervical (C₅-C₆) and lumbar (L₃-L₄) levels of the spinal cord in adult (1-2 year-old) and aged (10-12 year-old) dogs (German shepherds). Weak cleaved αII-spectrin and cleaved caspase-3 immunoreactivity was found in neurons of the adult group; however, their immunoreactivity was distinctively increased in the neuronal cytoplasm in the aged group compared to those in the adult group, although the distribution pattern of their neurons was similar between the adult and age group. In addition, cleaved αII-spectrin and cleaved caspase-3 levels in the aged spinal cord were markedly increased compared to those in the adult group. These findings suggest that the increases of cleaved αII-spectrin and cleaved caspase-3 immunoreactivity may be related to aging of the spinal cord in dogs.
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Veterinary Medicine, and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, South Korea.
In Koo
IK
Hwang
Ji Hyeon
JH
Ahn
Dae Young
DY
Yoo
Choong Hyun
CH
Lee
Ki-Yeon
KY
Yoo
Jung Hoon
JH
Choi
Seung Myung
SM
Moon
Hyung-Cheul
HC
Shin
Moo-Ho
MH
Won
D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D004285:Dogs; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D059748:Proteolysis; D013049:Spectrin / Q000378:metabolism*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000201:enzymology*
D013049:Spectrin; D053148:Caspase 3