Increased expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor but not neurotrophin-3 mRNA in rat brain after cortical impact injury

K. Yang, J. R. Perez-Polo, X. S. Mu, H. Q. Yan, J. J. Xue, Y. Iwamoto, S. J. Liu, C. E. Dixon, R. L. Hayes

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    91 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT3) mRNA expression were measured in a rodent model of traumatic brain injury (TBI) following unilateral injury to the cerebral cortex. To obtain reliable data on the co-expression of neurotrophin genes, adjacent coronal sections from the same rat brains were hybridized in situ with BDNF and NT3 cRNA probes. BDNF mRNA increased at 1, 3, and 5 hr after unilateral cortical injury in the cortex ipsilateral to the injury site and bilaterally in the dorsal hippocampus. NT3 mRNA did not change significantly following injury. Our results suggest that TBI produces rapid increases in BDNF mRNA expression in rat brain without changes in NT3 mRNA expression, a finding which differs from studies of ischemia and seizures. It is possible that increased levels of BDNF mRNA rather than NT3 are important components of pathophysiological responses to TBI.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)157-164
    Number of pages8
    JournalJournal of Neuroscience Research
    Volume44
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 1996

    Keywords

    • BDNF
    • NT3
    • gene expression
    • neurotrophin
    • traumatic brain injury

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

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