title: Effects of post mortem interval and gender in DNA base excision repair activities in rat brains.
abstract: Most human tissues used in research are of post mortem origin. This is the case for all brain samples, and due to the difficulty in obtaining a good number of samples, especially in the case of neurodegenerative diseases, male and female samples are often included in the same experimental group. However, the effects of post mortem interval (PMI) and gender differences in the endpoints being analyzed are not always fully understood, as is the case for DNA repair activities. To investigate these effects, in a controlled genetic background, base excision repair (BER) activities were measured in protein extracts obtained from Wistar rat brains from different genders and defined PMI up to 24 hours, using a novel fluorescent-based in vitro incision assay. Uracil and AP-site incision activity in nuclear and mitochondrial extracts were similar in all groups included in this study. Our results show that gender and PMI up to 24 hours have no influence in the activities of the BER proteins UDG and APE1 in rat brains. These findings demonstrate that these variables do not interfere on the BER activities included in these study, and provide a security window to work with UDG and APE1 proteins in samples of post mortem origin.
authors.affiliation: Departmento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Daniela Tathiana
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Soltys
authors.affiliation: Departmento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carolina Parga Martins
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Departmento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gabriela Naomi
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Ishibe
authors.affiliation: Departmento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-900, Brazil. Electronic address: nadja@iq.usp.br.
authors.forename: Nadja Cristhina
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: de Souza-Pinto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D004260:DNA Repair; D043603:DNA-(Apurinic or Apyrimidinic Site) Lyase / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D051381:Rats; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D043603:DNA-(Apurinic or Apyrimidinic Site) Lyase
keywords: Base excision repair; Gender; In vitro incision assay; Post mortem interval