Changes in the Expression of Neurofilament Protein in the Rat Sensorimotor Cortex Induced by Microembolization of Blood Vessels: Effect of Immunomodulation

Abstract

We studied changes in the expression of neurofilament protein (NFP) in the rat sensorimotor cortex after microembolization in the vessels of one hemisphere using unilateral injection of a suspension of adipocytes into the common carotid artery. The expression of NFP was estimated by the results of immunohistochemical detection of NFP using monoclonal murine antibodies against human NFP (clone 2F11, Dako, Denmark). In control rats, NFP was identified predominantly within thin terminals of nerve fibers but not in neuronal perikaryons. After microembolization of the vessels of the left cerebral hemisphere, we observed a total decrease in the intensity of expression of NFP; a mosaic pattern of the loci with practical absence and intensification of such expression could be noted. Within late time intervals after microembolization, we sporadically found labled NFP structures in the perikaryons, axon hillocks, and axons of some neurons. Changes in the expression of NFP demonstrated a widespread pattern (they were also observed in neocortical parts of the contralateral hemisphere). Course injections of the immunomodulator Imunofan resulted, in the whole, in a decrease in the intensity of pathological changes in the expression of NFP. This is indicative of a possibility for the involvement of immune processes in the pathogenesis of the observable changes. Within the recovery period after microembolization, we observed a considerable number of NFP positive bodies in the neocortex, which can be qualified as growth bulbs (cones).