Hippocampal poly(ADP-Ribose) polymerase 1 and caspase 3 activation in neonatal bornavirus infection.

ABSTRACT: Infection of neonatal rats with Borna disease virus results in a characteristic behavioral syndrome and apoptosis of subsets of neurons in the hippocampus, cerebellum, and cortex (neonatal Borna disease [NBD]). In the NBD rat hippocampus, dentate gyrus granule cells progressively degenerate. Apoptotic loss of granule cells in NBD is associated with accumulation of zinc in degenerating neurons and reduced zinc in granule cell mossy fibers. Excess zinc can trigger poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1) activation, and PARP-1 activation can mediate neuronal death. Here, we evaluate hippocampal PARP-1 mRNA and protein expression levels, activation, and cleavage, as well as apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) nuclear translocation and executioner caspase 3 activation, in NBD rats. PARP-1 mRNA and p

SUBMITTER: Williams BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2258717 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature