GART expression in rat spinal cord after injury and its role in inflammation.
The glycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase (GART) gene, a trifunctional polypeptide, has phosphoribosylglycinamide formyltransferase, phosphoribosylglycinamide synthetase, and phosphoribosylaminoimidazole synthetase activity, and is required for de novo purine biosynthesis. GART is highly conserved in vertebrates. Alternative splicing of GART results in two transcript variants encoding different isoforms. However, the expression and function of GART in the central nervous system lesion are still unclear. In this study, we used a traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) model in adult Sprague-Dawley rats and investigated the dynamic changes of GART protein expression in the spinal cord. Western blot analysis revealed that GART was present in sham-operated spinal cord. It gradually increased, reached a peak at day 3 after SCI, and then declined during the following days. Double immunofluorescence staining revealed a widespread of GART, and the majority of GARTs are detected in astrocytes. After injury, GART expression was increased predominantly in astrocytes, positively correlated with the highly expressed proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Knockdown of GART expression in cultured primary astrocytes by siRNA revealed that expression of GART in astrocytes plays a role in the LPS-induced release of pro-inflammatory factors, such as TNF-α and IL-6. These results showed that GART may participate in the pathophysiology of SCI, and more research is needed to have a good understanding of its function and mechanism.
Department of Pathogen Biology, Medical School, Nantong University, Nantong 226001, People׳s Republic of China; Basic Medical Research Center, Medical School, Nantong University, Nantong 226001, People׳s Republic of China.
Dongmei
D
Zhang
The Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong 226001, People׳s Republic of China.
Ying
Y
Yue
The Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong 226001, People׳s Republic of China.
Shengyang
S
Jiang
Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, People׳s Republic of China.
Aihong
A
Li
Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, People׳s Republic of China.
Aisong
A
Guo
Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, People׳s Republic of China.
Xinming
X
Wu
Department of Orthopaedics, Traditional Chinese Medical Hospital of Nantong City, Nantong 226001, People׳s Republic of China.
Xiaopeng
X
Xia
Department of Orthopaedics, Traditional Chinese Medical Hospital of Nantong City, Nantong 226001, People׳s Republic of China.
Hongbing
H
Cheng
Department of Spine Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, People׳s Republic of China.
Jinlong
J
Zhang
Department of Pathogen Biology, Medical School, Nantong University, Nantong 226001, People׳s Republic of China; Department of Chemistry and Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People׳s Republic of China. Electronic address: nttaotao@ntu.edu.cn.
Tao
T
Tao
The Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong 226001, People׳s Republic of China. Electronic address: guxingxing@ntu.edu.cn.
Xingxing
X
Gu
D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D007249:Inflammation / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D051026:Phosphoribosylglycinamide Formyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism
D016207:Cytokines; D051026:Phosphoribosylglycinamide Formyltransferase
GART; Inflammatory; Rats; Spinal cord injury