IBCN   20355
INSTITUTO DE BIOLOGIA CELULAR Y NEUROCIENCIA "PROFESOR EDUARDO DE ROBERTIS"
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Ontogenetic expression of Dopamine-related Transcription Factors and Tyrosine Hydroxylase in Prenatally Stressed Rats
Autor/es:
KATUNAR MR,, SAEZ T, BRUSCO A, ANTONELLI MC
Revista:
NEUROTOXICITY RESEARCH
Editorial:
SPRINGER
Referencias:
Lugar: New York; Año: 2010 vol. 18 p. 69 - 81
ISSN:
1029-8428
Resumen:
The development of the central nervous system
can be permanently affected by insults received during the
perinatal period, predisposing the organism to long-term
behavioral and neurochemical abnormalities. Rats exposed
to different types of stress during the last week of gestation
produce offspring that show several alterations, many of
which have been attributed to changes in dopamine (DA)
neurotransmission that could serve as the neurochemical
basis for the development of neuropsychiatric disorders.
Employing an immunocytochemical approach, we studied
the expression levels of two transcription factors Nurr1 and
Pitx3 which are expressed at critical moments of DA neurons
differentiation as well as the expression of the rate
limiting enzyme in DA synthesis, tyrosine hydroxylase
(TH) in mesencephalic areas of the brains of prenatally
stressed (PS) offspring at different postnatal ages. Main
results show that stress exerted to the gestant mother produces
permanent effect in the ontogenetic expression of key
factors related to the DA metabolism mainly in the ventral
tegmental area (VTA) of the mesencephalon. The immunocytochemical
expression of the transcription factor Nurr1
shows an increase at postnatal days (PNDs) 7, 28, and 60
whereas Pitx3 shows a decrease at PND 28 and an increase
at 60 PND. The rate limiting step in DA synthesis, the
enzyme TH shows a decrease at PND 7 to reach control
levels at PNDs 28 and 60. The increase of TFs might be
up-regulating TH in order to restore DA levels that were
previously seen to be normal before puberty. The area
selectivity of the increase of the TFs toward VTA and the
mesolimbic pathway indicates that an insult received during
the prenatal period will exert mainly motivational, emotional,
and reward behavior impairments in the adult life.