Effects of prenatal stress on the expression of dopamine transcription factors and D2 receptor lateralization in adult rats

MR KATUNAR, E ADROVER, A BRUSCO AND MC ANTONELLI

Cancún, México

Congreso; • 21th Biennal Meeting International Society for Neurochemistry y American Society for Neurochemistry; 2007

International Society for Neurochemistry y American Society for Neurochemistry

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Comic Sans MS"; panose-1:3 15 7 2 3 3 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:script; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:ES; mso-fareast-language:ES;} p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:DE; mso-fareast-language:ES;} p.MsoBodyText2, li.MsoBodyText2, div.MsoBodyText2 {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Comic Sans MS"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:ES;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 3.0cm 70.85pt 3.0cm; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> EFFECTS OF PRENATAL STRESS ON THE EXPRESSION OF DOPAMINE TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS AND D2 RECEPTOR LATERALIZATION IN ADULT RATS. María Rosa Katunar1, Ezequiela Adrover1, Alicia Brusco2 and Marta C. Antonelli1. 1IQUIFIB (UBA-CONICET), Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. UBA. 2IBCyN. Facultad de Medicina.UBA. Buenos Aires. ARGENTINA.   Rats exposed to different types of stress during the last week of pregnacy produce offspring that show severe anomalies in neural development and brain morphology as well as changes in cerebral asymmetry that persist into adulthood. We have previously shown that prenatal stress (PS) increases D2-type dopamine (DA) receptor levels with a concomitant reduction in dopamine release after amphetamine stimulation. In this study, we show that PS increased D2 receptors both in the left and right sides of NacC, but the left-right asymmetry observed in the control group, was selectively lost in adult rats exposed to PS. CPu-M showed an increase of D2 receptors after PS in both hemispheres and asymmetries in both control and stressed groups It has recently been identified two transcription factors Nurr1 and Pitx3 which are expressed at critical moments of DA neurons differentiation. Their genetic expression is activated immediately after these neurons determination and maintained through adult life. Employing an inmunocytochemistry approach, we studied the expression levels of these factors in mesencephalon slices of prenatally stressed adult rats. Nurr1 expression was localized in periaqueductal ependymal cells, whereas Pitx3 expression was restricted to sustantia nigra and to ventral tegmental area (VTA). PS rats showed an increse in Pitx3 positive nucleus. Since Pitx3 modulates the expression of the key enzyme in dopamine synthesis, tirosine hidroxylase, the increase of Pitx3 in the adult prenatally stressed rat might be a compensatory mechanism to counteract the decrease of dopamine levels observed at early stages.