J Korean Neurol Assoc.  1999 Jul;17(4):568-573.

Changes in Expression of BCL-2, BAX and ICE mRNA After Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Rat

• Cho YH
• Kim JK
• Kim KK
• Cho KH
• Kim SJ

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In order to delineate the involvement of apoptotic death in post-ischemic cerebral infarction, the temporal expressions of some apoptosis-regulating genes (BCL-2, BAX and ICE) were studied in the parietofrontal cortex of a rat following focal cerebral ischemia using a Northern blot analysis and RT-PCR.
METHODS
Animals were decapitated at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 24 hours following a middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO).
RESULTS
With the use of Northern blotting, the expression of proto-oncogene BCL-2, the apoptosis-repressor gene, increased up to 4 hours after a MCAO and then recovered to the control level. In a RT-PCR analysis, the expression of BCL-2 increased up to 8 hours after the MCAO and then recovered to the control level at 24 hours. The expression of BAX, the apoptosis-effec-tor gene, was not altered by a MCAO in a Northern blot analysis. The expression of ICE, an cysteine protease gene, markedly decreased at 1 and 2 hours after the MCAO and then recovered to the control level.
CONCLUSIONS
These results show that ischemic insults by a MCAO alter the expression of the apoptosis-regulating genes and support the notion that the apoptosis may have occurred in the post-ischemic cerebral infarction.

Keyword

Apoptosis; BCL-2; BAX; ICE; Cerebral Ischemia

MeSH Terms

Animals
Apoptosis
Blotting, Northern
Brain Ischemia
Cerebral Infarction
Cysteine Proteases
Ice*
Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery*
Middle Cerebral Artery*
Proto-Oncogenes
Rats
RNA, Messenger*
Cysteine Proteases
Ice
RNA, Messenger