Age-Related Changes of Glutamate Transporters in the Rat Cerebellum / 체질인류학회지

ABSTRACT

In the present study, we examined the distribution and amount of two important glutamate transporters, GLT-1 and GLAST in the cerebellum of young and aged rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were used at the age of three months for young control (n=3) and 24 months for aged group (n=4). After transcardial perfusion with 4% paraformaldehyde, brain sections were immunostained for GLT-1, and GLAST. We found that GLT-1- and GLAST-immunoreactive materials were diffusely distributed throughout the gray matter of the cerebellum. Pre-embedding immunoelectron microscopic study demonstrated that the two glutamate transporters in the cerebellum were restricted to glial cells with astrocytic features. The intensity of GLT-1-immunostaining in the cerebellum appeared to be higher in aged rats than in young rats whereas GLAST-immunostaining decreased with aging. Western blot results were also consistent with the immunohistochemical observations. Conclusively, GLT-1 and GLAST expression in the rat cerebellum was changed with aging, i.e, increase of GLT-1 and decrease of GLAST expression with aging, which suggests that the two glutamate transporters might be regulated by different underlying mechanisms with aging.