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Vitamin E Deficiency and Aging Effect on Expression Levels of GAP‐43 and MAP‐2 in Selected Areas of the Brain
Author(s) -
CASOLI TIZIANA,
STEFANO GIUSEPPINA,
DELFINO ALESSIA,
FATTORETTI PATRIZIA,
BERTONIFREDDARI CARLO
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1297.008
Subject(s) - expression (computer science) , medicine , endocrinology , neuroscience , biology , computer science , programming language
A bstract : The expression levels of GAP‐43 and MAP‐2, two proteins involved, respectively, in axonal and dendritic remodeling, in control adult (11 months), old (24 months), and vitamin E‐deficient (11 months) rats were evaluated. mRNA levels were determined by means of a quantitative in situ hybridization procedure in subregions of hippocampus and cerebellum. Though a general trend can be observed indicating a reduction in GAP‐43 expression in aging as compared to adult animals and an increase in vitamin E‐deprived rats in comparison with adult animals, no statistically significant change was found in any region analyzed. In the same way, MAP‐2 mRNA levels show an increase in vitamin E‐deprived rats in comparison with other groups tested; only one variation was statistically significant, namely the increase in cerebellar cortex MAP‐2 nRNA levels in vitamin E‐deficient versus adult rats. These results suggest that oxidative stress and aging negatively affect neuroplasticity, showing different characteristics at the dendritic and axonal levels.