Distribution of GABARAP and β-III-tubulin Proteins in the Rats Neocortex in the Neonatal Period after Exposure to Perinatal Hypoxia

Abstract

The content of the intracellular transport protein GABARAP associated with the GABAA-receptor and the isoform of the cytoskeletal protein β-III-tubulin in the layers of the somatosensory area of the neocortex in the neonatal period in Wistar rats after exposure to hypoxia was studied. The model of human preterm pregnancy was used in the work. Immunohistochemical methods were used to detect GABARAP and β-III-tubulin. The exposure of hypoxia was carried out on the 2nd day after birth, in a special chamber with an oxygen content in the respiratory mixture of 7.8%. The study of the neocortex was carried out on days 5 and 10. It was shown that animals in control, by the end of the neonatal period (P10), the content of GABARAP (according to the staining density of the immune reaction product) significantly increased: in the upper layers II-III by 2, and in the deep layers IV-VI by 4 times compared with the earlier period development (P5). The content of β-III-tubulin in the layers of the cortex is distributed evenly. Animals that survived exposure to hypoxia in the neonatal period showed a significant increase in the content of GABARAP and β-III-tubulin in the upper layers of the neocortex. These changes occur against the background of a significant decrease in the content of the GABAA-receptor subtype (data obtained earlier). GABARAP and β-III-tubulin, as well as the GABAA-receptor, are part of a complex of elements mediating GABA transmission in the neocortex. Hypoxia causes a change in the content of these proteins in the cerebral cortex, which can lead to disruption of the inhibitory effects of GABA.