title: Down-regulation of Homer1b/c expression protects cultured neurons after traumatic injury.
abstract: Activation of metabotropic glutamate receptor 1a aggravates traumatic brain injury. The constitutively expressed protein Homer1b/c participates in delivering and anchoring metabotropic glutamate receptors in neurons. Here, we aimed to verify whether down-regulation of Homer1b/c by RNA interference could protect cultured rat cortical neurons from traumatic injury. We showed that 36 hours after transfection of Homer1b/c small interfering RNA, metabotropic glutamate receptor 1a was present only in the neuronal cytoplasm, but not in the dendrites. Calcium fluorescence intensity was also decreased significantly. Moreover, lactate dehydrogenase concentration was significantly decreased in Homer1b/c small interfering RNA-transfected cells compared with that in untransfected and control small interfering RNA-transfected cells 24 hours after traumatic neuronal injury. Our findings indicate that down-regulation of Homer1b/c could reduce metabotropic glutamate receptor 1a transfer from the cell body to the dendrite, relieve calcium overload, and protect neurons from traumatic injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'an 710068, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Weidong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'an 710068, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiaobin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Xijing Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University of Chinese PLA, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fei
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'an 710068, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Yuelin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'an 710068, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: Homer; RNA interference; calcium ion; lactate dehydrogenase; metabotropic glutamate receptor 1; neural regeneration; neuron; neuroprotection