Apoptosis In Fetal Brain Research Articles

Apoptosis in the Ovine Fetal Brain Following Placental Embolization and Intermittent Umbilical Cord Occlusion.

The purpose of this study was to compare the regional distribution of apoptotic cells in the near term ovine fetal brain caused by prolonged moderate hypoxia, as seen in placental insufficiency, and intermittent severe hypoxia, as seen in umbilical cord compression, which may then contribute to adverse neurodevelopment in the postnatal life. We hypothesized that apoptosis in the fetal brain will be increased in response to both prolonged moderate hypoxia and intermittent severe hypoxia. Twenty-one near term (126-127 days) sheep were divided into 3 groups: control (CON; n = 7), placental embolization (EMB; n = 7), and umbilical cord occlusion (UCO; n = 8). The EMB group had microsphere injections into the umbilical arterial circulation until the oxygen content was at 50% of baseline value. The UCO group had complete cord occlusion for 2 minutes every hour, 6 times a day for 2 consecutive days. At 4 pm on day 2, the animals were euthanized; fetal brains were fixed and prepared for apoptosis staining using the terminal uridine deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay method. In the cerebellar white matter, there was a 3-fold increase in the number of TUNEL positive cells per 1000 cells in both EMB and UCO animals as compared to CON (P = .017). There was also a significant increase in the frontal cortical grey matter (layers 1-3) in EMB animals as compared to CON (P = .014). As such, apoptosis in the near term fetal sheep brain is altered with both sustained moderate hypoxia and intermittent severe hypoxia in the latter part of pregnancy, with potential for long-term neurological sequelae.

A novel peptide, colivelin, prevents alcohol-induced apoptosis in fetal brain of C57BL/6 mice: signaling pathway investigations

Fetal alcohol exposure is known to induce cell death through apoptosis. We found that colivelin (CLN), a novel peptide with the sequence SALLRSIPAPAGASRLLLLTGEIDLP, prevents this apoptosis. Our initial experiment revealed that CLN enhanced the viability of primary cortical neurons exposed to alcohol. We then used a mouse model of fetal alcohol exposure to identify the intracellular mechanisms underlying these neuroprotective effects. On embryonic day 7 (E7), weight-matched pregnant females were assigned to the following groups: (1) ethanol liquid diet 25% (4.49% v/v) ethanol derived calories; (2) pair-fed control; (3) normal chow; (4) ethanol liquid diet combined with administration (i.p.) of CLN (20 μg/20 g body weight); and (5) pair-fed combined with administration (i.p.) of CLN (20 μg/20 g body weight). On E13, fetal brains were collected and assayed for TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling staining, caspase-3 colorimetric assay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and Meso scale discovery electrochemiluminescence. CLN blocked the alcohol-induced decline in brain weight and prevented alcohol-induced: apoptosis, activation of caspase-3 and increases of cytosolic cytochrome c, and decreases of mitochondrial cytochrome c Analysis of proteins in the upstream signaling pathway revealed that CLN down-regulated the phosphorylation of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase. Moreover, CLN prevented alcohol-induced reduction in phosphorylation of BAD protein. Thus, CLN appears to act directly on upstream signaling proteins to prevent alcohol-induced apoptosis. Further assessment of these proteins and their signaling mechanisms is likely to enhance development of neuroprotective therapies.

Activity-dependent neuroprotective protein–derived peptide, NAP, preventing alcohol-induced apoptosis in fetal brain of C57BL/6 mouse

Possible prevention of the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure has been investigated using peptides that were previously shown to be involved in neuroprotection both in vitro and in vivo. I focused in this study on investigating the neuroprotective effects of one of these peptides with regard to the determination of the downstream signaling pathways involved in neuroprotection. This peptide with the sequence NAPVSIPQ, known as NAP, a fragment of activity-dependent neuroprotective protein, demonstrated a potent protective effect against oxidative stress associated with alcohol exposure. On embryonic day 7 (E7), weight-matched C57BL/6 pregnant females were assigned the following groups: (1) Ethanol liquid diet group (ALC) 25% (4.49%, v/v) ethano-derived calories, (2) Pair-fed (PF) control group (3) Chow control group, (4) treatment groups with alcohol alongside i.p. injections of d-NAP (ALC/d-NAP, 20 or 30 μg/20 g body weight), (5) PF/d-NAP control group. On E13, fetal brains were collected and assayed for TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining, caspase-3 colorimetric assay and ELISA for cytochrome c detection. My results show that NAP significantly prevented alcohol-induced weight reduction of the fetal brain. Apoptosis was determined by TUNEL staining; NAP administration significantly prevented alcohol-induced increases in TUNEL-positive cells in primordium cingulate cortex and basal ganglia eminence. The investigation of downstream signaling pathways involving NAP neuroprotection revealed that this peptide significantly prevented alcohol-induced increase in the concentrations of caspase-3 in E13 fetal brains. Moreover, ELISA for cytochrome c shows that NAP significantly prevented both alcohol-induced increases in the level of cytosolic cytochrome c and alcohol-induced decreases in the level of mitochondrial cytochrome c. These data provide an understanding of NAP intracellular target, and the downstream mechanisms of action that will pave a path toward potential therapeutics against alcohol intoxication during prenatal stages.

Upregulation of Bax and Bcl-2 following prenatal cocaine exposure induces apoptosis in fetal rat brain

Cocaine abuse during pregnancy has been associated with numerous adverse perinatal outcomes. The present study was to determine whether prenatal cocaine exposure induced apoptosis and the possible role of Bcl-2 family genes in the programming cell death in fetal rat brain. Pregnant rats were treated with cocaine subcutaneously (30 & 60 mg/kg/day) from day 15 to 21 of gestation. Then the fetal and maternal brains were isolated. Cocaine produced a dose-dependent decrease in fetal brain weight and brain/body weight ratio (P<0.05). Apoptotic nuclei in fetal brain were increased from 2.6 +/- 0.1 (control) to 8.1+/- 0.6 (low dose) and 10.4 +/- 0.2% (high dose) (P<0.05). In accordance, cocaine dose dependently increased activities of caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9 (% of control) in the fetal brain by 177%, 155%, 174%, respectively, at 30 mg/kg/day, and by 191%, 176%, 274%, respectively, at 60 mg/kg/day. In contrast, cocaine showed no effect on caspase activities in the maternal brain. Cocaine produced a dose-dependent increase in both Bcl-2 and Bax protein expression in the fetal brain, and increased the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 at dose of 30 mg/kg/day (P<0.05). Our study has demonstrated that prenatal cocaine exposure induces apoptosis in the fetal brain, and suggested that up-regulating Bax/Bcl-2 gene expression may be involved in cocaine-induced apoptosis. The increased apoptosis of neuronal cells in the fetal brain is likely to play a key role in cocaine-induced neuronal defects during fetal development.

Apoptosis in the developing human brain: a preliminary study of the frontal region.

Natural cell death due to apoptotic mechanisms has been described in various species. Relatively few studies examined this process in humans. To investigate the distribution of apoptosis in fetal brain tissue. We examined apoptosis in the frontal region of human fetal brain by the TUNEL method in nine fetuses with no neurological conditions, gestational age 14-26 weeks, and three fetuses with structural anomalies of the nervous system (lumbar meningomyeloceles, n=2, hydrocephalus, n=1). In normal fetuses, TUNEL-positive cells were most concentrated in the intermediate zone (IZ) and between 18 and 22 weeks of gestation; cortical apoptosis was not prominent. The fetus with hydrocephalus had increased numbers of TUNEL-positive cells while those with neural tube defects did not differ from normals. The definition of normally occurring apoptosis may provide a basis for further studies directed at central nervous system (CNS) malformations.

Apoptosis is induced by choline deficiency in fetal brain and in PC12 cells

Treatment of rats with choline during critical periods in brain development results in long-lasting enhancement of spatial memory in their offspring. Apoptosis is a normal process during brain development, and, in some tissues, is modulated by the availability of the nutrient choline. In these studies, we examined whether availability of choline influences apoptosis in fetal brain and in the PC12 cell line derived from a rat pheochromocytoma. Timed-bred Sprague Dawley rats were fed a choline-deficient (CD), choline-control, or choline-supplemented (CS) diet for 6 days and, on embryonic day 18, fetal brain slices were prepared and apoptosis was assessed using terminal dUTP nucleotide end labeling (TUNEL) to detect DNA strand breaks and by counting of apoptotic bodies. TUNEL-positive cells were detected in 15.9% ( P<0.01), 8.7% and 7.2% of hippocampal cells from fetuses of dams fed the CD, control or CS diets, respectively. A similar inverse relationship between dietary intake of choline and TUNEL positive cells was detected in an area of cerebral cortex from these fetal brain slices. Counts of apoptotic bodies in fetal brain slices correlated inversely with choline intake of the mothers (6.2% ( P<0.01), 2.5% and 1.9% of hippocampal cells had apoptotic bodies in fetuses of dams fed the CD, control and CS diets, respectively). PC12 cells were grown in DMEM/F12 media supplemented with 70 μM choline or with 0 μM choline. The number of apoptotic bodies in PC12 cells increased when cells were grown in 0 μM choline medium (1.5%; P<0.05) compared to 70 μM choline medium (0.55%). In PC12 cells, TUNEL labeling (DNA strand breaks) increased in choline deficient (13.5%, P<0.05) compared to sufficient medium (5.0%). In addition, cleavage of genomic DNA into 200 bp internucleosomal fragments was detected in choline-deficient cells. These results show that choline deficiency induces apoptotic cell death in neuronal-type cells and in whole brain. We suggest that variations in choline availability to brain modulate apoptosis rates during development.