title: Mice Lacking Functional Fas Death Receptors Are Protected from Kainic Acid-Induced Apoptosis in the Hippocampus.
abstract: The Fas receptor (FasR)/Fas ligand (FasL) system plays a significant role in the process of neuronal loss in neurological disorders. Thus, in the present study, we used a real-time PCR array focused apoptosis (Mouse Apoptosis RT(2) PCR Array) to study the role of the Fas pathway in the apoptotic process that occurs in a kainic acid (KA) mice experimental model. In fact, significant changes in the transcriptional activity of a total of 23 genes were found in the hippocampus of wild-type C57BL/6 mice after 12 h of KA treatment compared to untreated mice. Among the up-regulated genes, we found key factors involved in the extrinsic apoptotic pathway, such as tnf, fas and fasL, and also in caspase genes (caspase -4, caspase-8 and caspase-3). To discern the importance of the FasR/FasL pathway, mice lacking the functional Fas death receptor (lpr) were also treated with KA. After 24 h of neurotoxin treatment, lpr mice exhibited a reduced number of apoptotic positive cells, determined by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) method in different regions of the hippocampus, when compared to wild-type mice. In addition, treatment of lpr mice with KA did not produce significant changes in the transcriptional activity of genes related to apoptosis in the hippocampus, either in the fas and fas ligand genes or in caspase-4 and caspase-8 and the executioner caspase-3 genes, as occurred in wild-type C57BL/6 mice. Thus, these data provide direct evidence that Fas signalling plays a key role in the induction of apoptosis in the hippocampus following KA treatment, making the inhibition of the death receptor pathway a potentially suitable target for excitotoxicity neuroprotection in neurological conditions such as epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Farmacologia i Farmacognòsia Facultat de Farmàcia, Institut de Biomedicina (IBUB), Universitat de Barcelona, Avda/Diagonal 643, E-08028, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Miren
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ettcheto
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Junyent
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Lemos
authors.forename: Merce
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pallas
authors.forename: Jaume
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Folch
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beas-Zarate
authors.forename: Ester
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Verdaguer
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gómez-Sintes
authors.forename: José J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.forename: Carme
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Auladell
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Camins
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D056547:CA1 Region, Hippocampal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D056654:CA3 Region, Hippocampal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D007608:Kainic Acid / Q000633:toxicity*; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D019463:Mice, Inbred MRL lpr; D008954:Models, Biological; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000473:pathology; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D000066829:Neuroprotection / Q000187:drug effects*; D009498:Neurotoxins / Q000633:toxicity; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009498:Neurotoxins; D019014:fas Receptor; D007608:Kainic Acid