Brain cellular localization of endothelin receptors A and B in a rodent model of diffuse traumatic brain injury.

Endothelin-1 exerts potent vasoconstrictor and vasodilatory effects through its actions on its receptors A (ETrA) and B (ETrB), respectively. While ETrA and B have classically been thought to be expressed on vascular cell types, more recent evidence suggests that, particularly following brain injury, their expression may be seen in other, non-vascular cell types. To date no studies have comprehensively studied the cellular location of endothelin receptors following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Therefore, this study investigates the cellular localization of ETrA and B in normal and traumatized brains using an impact acceleration device. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to TBI by weight drop (450 g) from either 1.5, a distance known to elicit mild TBI in the absence of changed in cerebral blood flow (CBF) or 2 m, a distance shown to cause a significant reduction in CBF. One set of impacted brains were processed for Western determination of ETrA and B expression. Another set were processed for immunofluorescence (IF). For IF, ETrA and ETrB antibodies were combined with cell markers for neurons, astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells of blood vessels. While ETrA and B was upregulated after more moderate to severe injury (2 m) overall receptor expression was unchanged in response to mild trauma (1.5 m). Double labeling IF confirmed prominent ETrA and ETrB labeling in NeuN labeled pyramidal neurons and interneurons in sensorymotor cortex (smCx) and hippocampus (hipp) post TBI. ETrA rather than ETrB was preferentially co-localized in vascular smooth muscle cells. After injury, a subpopulation of astrocytes in white matter co-localized ETrA but not ETrB. Localization of either receptor in endothelial cells was sparse. No prominent IF was detected in microglia and oligodendrocytes. Taken together with previous findings in other pathological states that show an apparent shift in the localization of ETrA and B, the observed receptor shifts in this work may underlie the ET-1-mediated pathotrajectory of TBI including hypoperfusion.

Suppression of the inducible form of nitric oxide synthase prior to traumatic brain injury improves cytochrome c oxidase activity and normalizes cellular energy levels.

We have previously shown that the observed immediate increase in nitric oxide (NO) plays a significant role in the control of the cerebral microcirculation following traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, a second consequence of increased NO production after TBI may be impaired mitochondrial function, due to the fact that NO is a well-known inhibitor of cytochrome c oxidase (CcO). CcO is a key enzyme of the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) machinery, which creates cellular energy in the form of ATP. NO competes with oxygen at the heme a(3)-Cu(B) reaction center of CcO. We thus hypothesized that TBI triggers inhibition of CcO, which would in turn lead to a decreased energy production by OxPhos at a time of an elevated energy demand for tissue remodeling. Here we show that TBI as induced by an acceleration weight drop model of diffuse brain injury in rats leads to CcO inhibition and dramatically decreased ATP levels in brain cortex. CcO inhibition can be partially restored by application of iNOS antisense oligonucleotides prior to TBI, which leads to a normalization of ATP levels similar to the controls. We propose that a lack of energy after TBI caused by inhibition of CcO is an important aspect of trauma pathology.

Failure of MK-801 to suppress D1 receptor-mediated induction of locomotor activity and striatal preprotachykinin mRNA expression in the dopamine-depleted rat.

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonism exerts suppressive influences over dopamine D1 receptor-mediated striatal gene expression and locomotor behavior in the intact rat. The present study examined the effects of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist MK-801 on locomotor activity and striatal preprotachykinin mRNA expression stimulated by the D1 agonist (+/-)6-chloro-7, 8-dihydroxy-3-allyl-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine hydrobromide in rats with bilateral dopamine lesions. Two months after neonatal dopamine lesions with 6-hydroxydopamine, rats were challenged with (+/-)6-chloro-7, 8-dihydroxy-3-allyl-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine hydrobromide (1.0 mg/kg) 15 min after administration of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist MK-801 (0.1 mg/kg). In the intact rat, MK-801 prevented the induction of striatal preprotachykinin mRNA by D1 agonism. Similarly, direct infusion of (+/-)6-chloro-7, 8-dihydroxy-3-allyl-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine hydrobromide (3.0 microg) into the intact striatum produced an increase in locomotor activity that was suppressed by MK-801 (1.0 microg) co-infusion. In the dopamine-depleted rat, MK-801 (0.1 mg/kg) administered prior to (+/-)6-chloro-7, 8-dihydroxy-3-allyl-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine hydrobromide (1.0 mg/kg) increased, rather than suppressed, striatal preprotachykinin mRNA levels. Intrastriatal infusion of MK-801 (1.0 microg) failed to inhibit D1-mediated induction of motor activity in dopamine-depleted animals. Together, these data provide further support that N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists lose their ability to block D1-mediated behavioral activation following dopamine depletion. The activation, rather than suppression, of tachykinin neurons of the direct striatonigral pathway may play a facilitatory role in this mechanism.