• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.10
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• pp.1112-1117
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• 2008

Purpose : We intended to observe cell death and apoptotic changes in neurons in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures following oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD), using propidium iodide (PI) uptake, Fluoro-Jade (FJ) staining, TUNEL staining and immunofluorescent staining for caspase-3. Methods : The hippocampus of 7-day-old rats was cut into $350{\mu}m$ slices. The slices were cultured for 10 d (date in vitro, DIV 10) and and exposed to OGD for 60 min at DIV 10. They were then incubated for reperfusion under normoxic conditions for an additional 48 h. Fluorescence of PI uptake was observed at predetermined intervals, and the cell death percentage was recorded. At 24 h following OGD, the slices were Cryo-cut into $15{\mu}m$ thicknesses, and Fluoro-Jade staining, TUNEL staining, and immunofluorescence staining for caspase-3 were performed. Results : 1) PI uptake was restricted to the pyramidal cell layer and DG in the slices after OGD. The fluorescent intensities of PI increased from 6 to 48 h during the reperfusion stage. The cell death percentage significantly increased time-dependently in CA1 and DG following OGD (P<0.05). 2) At 24 h after OGD, many FJ positive cells were detected in CA1 and DG. Some neurons had distinct nuclei and processes while others had fragmented nuclei and disrupted processes in CA1. TUNEL and immunofluorescent staining for caspase-3 showed increased expression of TUNEL labeling and caspase-3 in CA1 and DG at 24 h after OGD. Conclusion : The numerous dead cells in the slice cultures after OGD tended to display apoptotic changes mediated by the activation of caspase-3.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.1 no.6
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• pp.681-690
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• 1997

Loss of synaptic transmission and accumulation of extracellular $K^+([K^+]_O)$ are the key features in ischemic brain damage. Here, we examined the effects of several $K^+$channel modulators on the early ischemic changes in population spike (PS) and $[K^+]_o$ in the CA1 pyramidal layer of the rat hippocampal slice using electrophysiological techniques. After onset of anoxic aglycemia (AA), orthodromic field potentials decreased and disappeared in $3.3{\pm}0.22\;min$ $(mean{\pm}SEM,\;n=40)$. The hypoxic injury potential (HIP), a transient recovery of PS appeared at $6.0{\pm}0.25\;min$ (n=40) in most slices during AA and lasted for $3.3{\pm}0.43\;min$. $[K^+]_o$ increased initially at a rate of 0.43 mM/min (Phase 1) and later at a much faster rate (12.45 mM/min, Phase 2). The beginning of Phase 2 was invariably coincided with the disappearance of HIP. Among $K^+$ channel modulators tested such as 4-aminopyridine (0.03, 0.3 mM), tetraethylammonium (0.1 mM), NS1619 $(0.3{\sim}10\;{\mu}M)$, niflumic acid (0.1 mM), glibenclamide $(40\;{\mu}M)$, tolbutamide $(300\;{\mu}M)$ and pinacidil $(100\;{\mu}M)$, only 4-aminopyridine (0.3 mM) induced slight increase of $[K^+]_o$ during Phase 1. However, none of the above agents modulated the pattern of Phase 2 in $[K^+]_o$ in response to AA. Taken together, the experimental data suggest that 4-aminopyridine-sensitive $K^+$channels, large conductance $Ca^{2+}-activated$ $K^+$ channels and ATP-sensitive $K^+$ channels may not be the major contributors to the sudden increase of $[K^+]_o$ during the early stage of brain ischemia, suggesting the presence of other routes of $K^+$ efflux during brain ischemia.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.307-312
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• 2014

Objective : We investigated the expression of hippocampal heat shock protein 70 (HSP-70) infarction volume after different durations of experimental ischemic stroke in mice. Methods : Focal cerebral ischemia was induced in mice by occluding the middle cerebral artery with the modified intraluminal filament technique. Twenty-four hours after ischemia induction, both hippocampi were extracted for HSP-70 protein analyses. Slices from each hemisphere were stained with 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (2%), and infarction volumes were calculated. HSP-70 levels were evaluated using western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). HSP-70 subtype (hsp70.1, hspa1a, hspa1b) mRNA levels in the hippocampus were measured using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results : Cerebral infarctions were found ipsilateral to the occlusion in 10 mice exposed to transient ischemia (5 each in the 30-min and 60-min occlusion groups), whereas no focal infarctions were noted in any of the sham mice. The average infarct volumes of the 2 ischemic groups were $22.28{\pm}7.31mm^3$ [30-min group${\times}$standard deviation (SD)] and $38.06{\pm}9.53mm^3$ (60-min group${\times}$SD). Western blot analyses and ELISA showed that HSP-70 in hippocampal tissues increased in the infarction groups than in the sham group. However, differences in HSP-70 levels between the 2 infarction groups were statistically insignificant. Moreover, RT-PCR results demonstrated no relationship between the mRNA expression of HSP-70 subtypes and occlusion time or infarction volume. Conclusion : Our results indicated no significant difference in HSP-70 expression between the 30- and 60-min occlusion groups despite the statistical difference in infarction volumes. Furthermore, HSP-70 subtype mRNA expression was independent of both occlusion duration and cerebral infarction volume.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.17
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• pp.257-261
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• 2001

Recently, a traditional medicine called Gouteng-san, which consists of eleven herbs, was reported to be effective in treating vascular dementia with a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Gout-eng-san is also used for patients with vascular dementia in combination with Si-Wu-Tang. The effect of Gouteng-san and Si-Wu-Tang on deficit of learning behavior was investigated using step-down passive avoidance task in mice. Hot-water extract of Gouteng-san (1.5 and 6 g/kg, p.o.) significantly prolonged the step-down latency shortened by scopolamine. The extract of Uncaria hook (150 mg/kg, p.o.), one of the component herb of Gouteng-san, significantly prevented the decrease in the latency after scopolamine. Hot-water extract of Si-Wu-Tang (1.5 and 6 g/kg of dried herbs, p.o.) prevented dose-dependently scopola-mine-induced disruption qf learning behavior. Si-Wu-Tang also prevented the ischemia-induced deficit of learning behavior. Both hot water extract of peony and angelica (1.5 g/kg, p.o.), which are component herbs qf Si-Wu-Tang, prevented the scopolamine-induced learning behavior deficit. Scopolamine (10 uM) suppressed long-term potentiation (LTP) of population spike in the CA1 region of the rat hippocampal slices. Peoniflorin (0.1~ 1uM) extracted from paeony root significantly ameliorated scopolamine-induced inhibition of LTR These results suggest that improvement of deficit of learning behavior by Gouteng-san and Si-Wu-Tang is mediated by direct and/or indirect activation of the cholinergic system in the brain.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.12
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• pp.1551-1558
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• 2002

Purpose : Loss of hippocampal interneurons in dentate gyrus has been reported in patients with severe temporal lobe epilepsy and in animals treated with kainic acid(KA). Interneurons contain $Ca^{2+}$- binding protein parvalbumin(PV). The effects of kainic acid on parvalbumin-immunoreactive (PV-IR) interneurons in dentate gyrus were investigated in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures. Methods : Cultured hippocampal slices from postnatal day nine C57/BL6 mice were exposed to $10{\mu}M$ KA, and were observed at 0, 8, 24, 48, 72 hours after a one hour KA exposure. Neuronal injury was determined by morphologic changes of PV-IR interneuron in dentate gyrus. Results : Transient(1 hour) exposure of hippocampal explant cultures to KA produced marked varicosities in dendrites of PV-IR interneuron in dentate gyrus and the shaft of interbeaded dendrite is often much thinner than those in control. The presence of varicosities in dendrites was reversible with KA washout. The dendrites of KA treated explants were no longer beaded at 8, 24, 48 and 72 hours after KA exposure. The number of cells in PV-IR interneurons in dentate gyrus was decreased at 0, 8 hours after exposure. But there was no significant difference in 24, 48 and 72 hours recovery group compared with control group. Conclusion : The results suggested that loss of PV-IR interneurons in dentate gyrus is transient, and is not accompanied by PV-IR interneuronal cell death.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.467-475
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• 2001

Cardiac arrest, hypoxia, shock or seizure has been known to induce cerebral ischemia. This study was designed to investigate the effect of ischemia on hippocampal pyramidal layer induced by transient bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries. Mature Mongolian gerbils were sacrificed at days 2, 4, and 7 after carotid occlusion for 10 minutes. Sham-operated gerbils of control group were subjected to the same protocol except for carotid occlusion. During operation for ischemia, body temperature was maintained $37{\pm}0.5^{\circ}C$ in all gerbils. Paraffin-embedded brain tissue blocks were cut into coronal slices and stained with H-E stain or immunostain by TUNEL method. Neurons with the oval and prominent nucleus and without the eosinophilic cytoplasm in the subfield of hippocamapal pyramidal layer were calculated as to be viable neurons. Their chromatins were condensed or clumped. Their nuclei appeared multiangular or irregularly shrinked. The width of the pyramidal layer was reduced due to the loss of nuclei. At day 2 after reperfusion, some neurons in the CA1 subfield were slightly eosinophilic. But most neurons in the CA2 subfield were strongly eosinophilic. At day 4 day, most neurons in the CA1 subfield were severely damaged and at day 7 day, only a few survived neurons were observed. Survived neurons per longitudinal 1mm sector in the CA1, CA2, CA3, and CA4 subfields of pyramidal layer were investigated. At day 2, the mean numbers of pyramidal neurons in CA1, CA2, CA3, and CA4 subfiedls were 104.5/mm (54.3%), 51.0/mm (33.8%), 105.5/mm (85.6%), and 124.3/mm (93.5%) compared to the nonischemic control group, respectively. At day 4, the mean numbers of pyramidal neurons in CA1, CA2, CA3, and CA4 subfields were 3.2/mm (1.7%), 51.5/mm(34.2%), 95.3/mm (77.4%), and 112.5/mm (84.6%), respectively. At day 7, the mean numbers of pyramidal neurons in CA1, CA2, CA3, and CA4 subfiedls were 0.8/mm (0.4%), 5.7/mm(3.8%), 9.8/mm (8.0%), and 5.0/mm (3.7%), respectively. The mean numbers of apoptotic positive neurons in the CA1 subfield at day 2, 4, and 7 after reperfusion were 67.8/mm, 153.2/mm and 123.7/mm, respectively. These results suggest that the transient cerebral ischemia cause severe damages in most neurons at day 7 and that the prosminent apoptotic positive neurons in hippocampal pyramidal layer are the delayed neuronal death induced by ischemia.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.31-39
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• 1998

As it has been reported that the depolarization induced acetylcholine (ACh) release is modulated by activation of presynaptic $A_1$ adenosine heteroreceptor and various lines of evidence suggest the $A_2$ adenosine receptor is present in the hippocampus. The present study was undertaken to delineate the role of adenosine receptors on the hippocampal ACh release. Slices from the rat hippocampus were equilibrated with $[^3H]choline$ and then the release amount of the labelled product, $[^3H]ACh$, which was evoked by electrical stimulation (rectangular pulses, 3 Hz, 2 ms, 24 mA, $5\;V/cm^{-1}$, 2 min), was measured, and the influence of various adenosine receptor-related agents on the evoked tritium outflow was investigated. And also, the drug-receptor binding assay was performed in order to confirm the presence of $A_1$ and $A_2$ adenosine receptors in the rat hippocampus. N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (NECA), a potent adenosine receptor agonist with nearly equal affinity at $A_1$ and $A_2$ adenosine receptors, in concentrations ranging from $1{\sim}30\;{\mu}M$, decreased the electrically-evoked $[^3H]ACh$ release in a concentration-dependent manner without affecting the basal rate of release. And the effect of NECA was significantly inhibited by 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX, 2 ${\mu}M$), a selective $A_1$ adenosine receptor antagonist, but was not influenced by 3,7-dimethyl-1-propargylxanthine (DMPX, 5 ${\mu}M$), a specific $A_2$ adenosine receptor antagonist. $N^6-cyclopentyladenosine$ (CPA), a selective $A_1$ adenosine receptor agonist, in doses ranging from 0.1 to 10 ${\mu}M$, reduced evoked $[^3H]ACh$ release in a dose-dependent manner without the change of the basal release. And the effect of CPA was significantly inhibited by 2 ${\mu}M$ DPCPX treatment. 2-P-(2-carboxyethyl)-phenethylamino-5'-N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine hydrochloride (CGS-21680C), a potent $A_2$ adenosine receptor agonist, in concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 10 ${\mu}M$, did not alter the evoked ACh release. In the drug-receptor binding assay, the binding of $[^3H]2-chloro-N^6-cyclopentyladenosine$ ($[^3H]$CCPA) to the $A_1$ adenosine receptor of rat hippocampal membranes was inhibited by CPA ($K_i$ = 1.22 nM), NECA ($K_i=10.17 nM$) and DPCPX ($K_i=161.86 nM$), but not by CGS-21680C ($K_i=2,380 nM$) and DMPX ($K_i=22,367 nM$). However, the specific binding of $[^3H]CGS-21680C$ to the $A_2$ adenosine receptor was not observed. These results suggest that the $A_1$ adenosine heteroreceptor play an important role in evoked ACh release, but the presence of $A_2$ adenosine receptor is not confirmed in this study.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.145-152
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• 1994

As it has been reported that the depolarization induced acetylcholine(ACh) release is modulated by activation of presynaptic $A_1-adenosine$ heteroreceptor and various lines of evidence indicate the $A_2-receptor$ is present In hippocampus, this study was undertaken to delineate the role of adenosine receptors on hippocampal ACh release. Slices from the rat hippocampus were equilibrated with $[^3H]-choline$ and the release of the labelled product, $[^3H]-ACh$, which evoked by electrical stimulation(3 Hz, $5\;Vcm^{-1}$, 2 ms, rectangular pulses) was measured, and the influence of various agents on the evoked tritium outflow was Investigated. Adenosine$(0.3{\sim}100\;{\mu}M)$ and CPA$(0.1{\sim}30\;{\mu}M)$ decreased the $[^3H]-ACh$ release in a dose-dependent manner without changing the basal rate of release. DPCPX$(1{\sim}10\;{\mu}M)$, a selective $A_1-receptor$, antagonist, increased the $[^3H]-ACh$ release in a dose related fashion with slight increase of basal tritium release. And the effects of adenosine and CPA were significantly inhibited by $DPCPX(2\;{\mu}M)$ treatment. CPCA, a specific $A_2-agonist$, in concentration ranging from 0.3 to 30 ${\mu}M$, decreased the evoked tritium outflow, and these effects were also abolished by $DPCPX(2\;{\mu}M)$ treatment. But the CPCA effects were not affected by $DMPX(2\;{\mu}M)$, a specific Aa-antagonist, treatment. However, CGS 21680c, a recently introduced potent $A_2-agonist$, in concentration ranging from 0.1 to $10{\mu}M$, did not alter the evoked tritium outflow. These results indicate that the decrement of the evoked ACh release by adenosine is mediated by $A_1-heteroreceptor$, but $A_2-adenosine$ receptor is not involved in ACh release in the rat hippocampus.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.343-348
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• 2012

Blocking or regulating $K^+$ channels is important for investigating neuronal functions in mammalian brains, because voltage-dependent $K^+$ channels (Kv channels) play roles to regulate membrane excitabilities for synaptic and somatic processings in neurons. Although a number of toxins and chemicals are useful to change gating properties of Kv channels, specific effects of each toxin on a particular Kv subunit have not been sufficiently demonstrated in neurons yet. In this study, we tested electro-physiologically if heteropodatoxin2 ($HpTX_2$), known as one of Kv4-specific toxins, might be effective on various $K^+$ outward currents in CA1 neurons of organotypic hippocampal slices of rats. Using a nucleated-patch technique and a pre-pulse protocol in voltage-clamp mode, total $K^+$ outward currents recorded in the soma of CA1 neurons were separated into two components, transient and sustained currents. The extracellular application of $HpTX_2$ weakly but significantly reduced transient currents. However, when $HpTX_2$ was added to internal solution, the significant reduction of amplitudes were observed in sustained currents but not in transient currents. This indicates the non-specificity of $HpTX_2$ effects on Kv4 family. Compared with the effect of cytosolic 4-AP to block transient currents, it is possible that cytosolic $HpTX_2$ is pharmacologically specific to sustained currents in CA1 neurons. These results suggest that distinctive actions of $HpTX_2$ inside and outside of neurons are very efficient to selectively reduce specific $K^+$ outward currents.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.87-91
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• 2002

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of $Ca^{2+}-channel$ blockers in norepinephrine (NE) release from rat hippocampus. Slices and synaptosomes were incubated with $[^3H]-NE$ and the releases of the labelled products were evoked by 25 mM KCl stimulation. Nifedipine, diltiazem, nicardipine, flunarizine and pimozide did not affect the evoked and basal release of NE in the slice. But, diltiazem, nicardipine and flunarizine decreased the evoked NE release with a dose-related manner without any change of the basal release from synaptosomes. Also, a large dose of pimozide produced modest decrement of NE release. ${\omega}-conotoxin$ (CTx) GVIA decreased the evoked NE release in a dose-dependent manner without changing the basal release. And ${\omega}-CTxMVIIC$ decreased the evoked NE release in the synaoptosomes without any effect in the slice, but the effect of decrement was far less than that of ${\omega}-CTxGVIA.$ In interaction experiments with ${\omega}-CTxGVIA,\;{\omega}-CTxMVIIC$ slightly potentiated the effect of ${\omega}-CTxGVIA$ on NE release in the slice and synaptosomal preparations. These results suggest that the NE release in the rat hippocampus is mediated mainly by N-type $Ca^{2+}-channels,$ and that other types such as L-, T- and/or P/Q-type $Ca^{2+}-channels$ could also be participate in this process.