title: Cocaine Causes Apoptotic Death in Rat Mesencephalon and Striatum Primary Cultures.
abstract: To study cocaine's toxic effects in vitro, we have used primary mesencephalic and striatal cultures from rat embryonic brain. Treatment with cocaine causes a dramatic increase in DNA fragmentation in both primary cultures. The toxicity induced by cocaine was paralleled with a concomitant decrease in the microtubule associated protein 2 (MAP2) and/or neuronal nucleus protein (NeuN) staining. We also observed in both cultures that the cell death caused by cocaine was induced by an apoptotic mechanism, confirmed by TUNEL assay. Therefore, the present paper shows that cocaine causes apoptotic cell death and inhibition of the neurite prolongation in striatal and mesencephalic cell culture. These data suggest that if similar neuronal damage could be produced in the developing human brain, it could account for the qualitative or quantitative defects in neuronal pathways that cause a major handicap in brain function following prenatal exposure to cocaine.
authors: Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, Room 338, Avenida Professor Lineu Prestes 1524, 05508-900 São Paulo, SP, Brazil ; LIBBS Company, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Lucilia B
authors: LB
authors: Lepsch
authors: Laboratório de Neuropsicofarmacologia, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Araraquara, SP, Brazil.
authors: Cleopatra S
authors: CS
authors: Planeta
authors: Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, Room 338, Avenida Professor Lineu Prestes 1524, 05508-900 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Critoforo
authors: C
authors: Scavone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D034961:Antigens, Nuclear / Q000096:biosynthesis; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D003042:Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016501:Neurites / Q000187:drug effects; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects; D061251:Primary Cell Culture; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D034961:Antigens, Nuclear; C489787:MAP2 protein, rat; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C546339:Rbfox3 protein, rat; D003042:Cocaine