Protein and RNA synthesis in cerebral microvessels: a radioautographic study

In vitro ischemia and protein synthesis in the rat hippocampal slice: the role of calcium and NMDA receptor activation

The rat hippocampal slice was developed as a model for investigating the effects of ischemia on protein synthesis in different cell types, as synthesis is an early functional indicator of cell damage. Five min of in vitro ischemia inhibited protein synthesis in CA1 pyramidal and subicular neurons 3 h later, despite recovery of the energy charge. Morphology of these neurons was also affected. In contrast, glia and capillary endothelial cells showed increased synthesis at this time point, and no apparent structural changes. Exposure of slices to buffer lacking calcium and containing the non-competitive NMDA receptor blocker ketamine, during the 5 min ischemia, prevented both the inhibition of protein synthesis and the morphologic changes in the neurons. However, if buffer only lacked calcium, or only contained ketamine, both forms of ischemic damage occurred. Thus, the neuronal protein synthesis inhibition and the impaired morphology appear to be mediated by either extracellular calcium or NMDA receptor activation. In contrast to the neurons, the ischemia-induced stimulation of protein synthesis in glia and capillary endothelial cells was not affected by the above treatments, indicating that neither NMDA receptor activation nor extracellular calcium is necessary for this effect.

Selective release from cultured mammalian cells of heat-shock (stress) proteins that resemble glia-axon transfer proteins

Cultured rat embryo cells were stimulated to rapidly release a small group of proteins that included several heat-shock proteins (hsp110, hsp71, hscp73) and nonmuscle actin. The extracellular proteins were analyzed by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Heat-shocked cells released the same set of proteins as control cells with the addition of the stress-inducible hsp110 and hsp71. Release of these proteins was not blocked by either monensin or colchicine, inhibitors of the common secretory pathway. A small amount of the glucose-regulated protein grp78 was externalized by this pathway. The extracellular accumulation of these proteins was inhibited after they were synthesized in the presence of the lysine analogue aminoethyl cysteine. It is likely that the analogue-substituted proteins were misfolded and could not be released from cells, supporting our conclusion that a selective release mechanism is involved. Remarkably, actin and the squid heat-shock proteins homologous to rat hsp71 and hsp110 are also among a select group of proteins transferred from glial cells to the squid giant axon, where they have been implicated in neuronal stress responses (Tytell et al.: Brain Res., 363:161-164, 1986). Based in part on the similarities between these two sets of proteins, we hypothesized that these proteins were released from labile cortical regions of animal cells in response to perturbations of homeostasis in cells as evolutionarily distinct as cultured rat embryo cells and squid glial cells.

Effects of polyhydroxyl alcohols on protein synthesis in brain slices

Stressors such as tissue slicing, toxic chemicals, and heat shock applied to cultured cells, organ tissues, or whole animals in vivo induce the synthesis of a 71,000-kilodalton stress protein (SP71) that is not normally present in most organ tissues. In the present experiment, an attempt was made to inhibit selectively the synthesis of SP71 in rat brain tissue slices. Of several manipulations to the brain slice incubation medium that were examined, only addition of very high concentrations of certain polyhydroxyl alcohols, i.e., 1.0 M glycerol, selectively inhibited SP71 synthesis. Glycerol also selectively inhibited SP71 synthesis in heat-shocked cerebral microvascular cells in culture but failed to inhibit SP71 synthesis in anesthetized rats in vivo in response to heat shock. The effects of glycerol on SP71 synthesis are discussed in relationship to current hypotheses concerning the function of SP71.

Protein synthesis in postischemic rat brain: a two-dimensional electrophoretic analysis

This study examined the pattern of protein synthesis in the neocortex, caudate-putamen, and the hippocampus following transient forebrain ischemia in rats. The animal model of temporary ischemia used in this study causes permanent damage to vulnerable neurons with a time course of injury that varies from hours (caudate nucleus) to days (hippocampus). To examine the spectrum of proteins synthesized in these regions at 3 and 18 h after recirculation, cerebral proteins were pulse-labeled in vivo by an intravenous injection of [35S]methionine. Newly synthesized (35S-labeled) and constitutive (unlabeled) proteins were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and fluorography. In all three brain regions, specific proteins underwent preferential synthesis (Mr approximately 27,000, approximately 65,000, approximately 70,000, approximately 110,000), while others showed decreased synthesis (neuron-specific enolase, alpha- and beta-tubulin). There was an early (3 h post ischemia) induction of the Mr approximately 70,000 mammalian "stress" protein; at 18 h post ischemia, its synthesis remained high in the hippocampus but was diminished in the neocortex and had largely subsided in the caudate-putamen. All regions at 18 h showed increased synthesis of an Mr approximately 50,000 protein, tentatively identified as glial fibrillary acidic protein. The results show that temporary forebrain ischemia induces changes in protein synthesis that include features similar to those observed in other eukaryotic cells subjected to injurious stress. These postischemic changes in protein synthesis are qualitatively similar in all brain regions examined despite regional differences in the severity of subsequent neuronal damage. The persistent synthesis of the Mr approximately 70,000 stress protein in the hippocampus, however, may reflect continued metabolic injury long after the ischemic episode has passed.

Selective gene expression in focal cerebral ischemia

Regional patterns of protein synthesis were examined in rat cortex made ischemic by the occlusion of the right common carotid and middle cerebral arteries. At 2 h of ischemia, proteins were pulse labeled with intracortical injections of a mixture of [3H]leucine, [3H]isoleucine, and [3H]proline. Newly synthesized proteins were analyzed by two-dimensional gel fluorography, and the results correlated with local CBF, measured with [14C]iodoantipyrine as tracer. Small blood flow reductions (CBF = 50-80 ml 100 g-1 min-1) were accompanied by a modest inhibition in synthesis of many proteins and a marked increase in one protein (Mr 27,000). With further reduction in blood flow (CBF = 40 ml 100 g-1 min-1), synthesis became limited to a small group of proteins (Mr 27,000, 34,000, 73,000, 79,000, and actin) including two new polypeptides (Mr 55,000 and 70,000). Severe ischemia (CBF = 15-25 ml 100 g-1 min-1) caused the isoelectric modification of several proteins (Mr 44,000, 55,000, and 70,000) and induced synthesis of another protein (Mr 40,000). Two polypeptides (Mr 27,000 and 70,000) dominated residual protein synthesis in severe ischemia. The changes in protein synthesis induced by different grades of ischemia most likely comprise a variation of the so-called "heat shock" or "stress" response found in all eukaryotic cells subjected to adverse conditions. Since heat shock genes are known to confer partial protection against anoxia and a variety of other noxious insults, their induction may be a factor in limiting the extent of ischemic tissue damage.

Postnatal development of a cellular response to stress in rat brain

In vivo synthesis of a stress protein (SP71) in response to hyperthermia was examined in brain and several other tissues from rats ranging in age from 1 day to 25 weeks old. The synthesis of SP71 was increased dramatically by hyperthermia at all ages in all tissues examined except brain. We were unable to detect any increase in SP71 synthesis in brain due to hyperthermia until the rats were more than 2 weeks old. SP71 synthesized by the cerebral microvasculature in response to the trauma of tissue slicing has previously been reported to show a similar requirement for postnatal development. The onset of the increase in synthesis of SP71 in response to either mild hyperthermia or mechanical trauma correlates with the structural and functional maturation of the cerebral microvasculature and the blood-brain barrier.

Induction of a stress protein in developing cell cultures of the rat cerebellum

We examined the ability of developing cerebellar cell cultures to synthesize a 71,000 MW stress protein (SP71) in response to heat shock and Cd2+ treatment. The induction of SP71 synthesis appeared to be dependent on both the age of the culture and the stressor used. Heat shock induced SP71 synthesis in freshly prepared cells and in cell cultures at each age examined, whereas Cd2+ was effective only in cultures at 7 days of age and older. These findings are discussed with reference to the development of various cell types in these cultures.

Trauma-induced protein in rat tissues: a physiological role for a "heat shock" protein?

Hyperthermic shock induces the synthesis of a novel protein (P71) in many rat tissues in vivo. In incubated rat tissue slices P71 is the major protein synthesized even though it is undetectable in the tissues of a normal, unstressed rat. P71 is "heat shock" protein, and it may be induced in vivo by stimuli other than hyperthermia. These results indicate that caution must be used in studies of protein synthesis in tissue explants, since the pattern of proteins synthesized by rat tissue slices is characteristic of stressed tissue.