Brain research. Molecular brain research
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Brain Res. Mol. Brain Res. · Mar 1993
Expression of mRNAs for neurotrophin receptors in the dorsal root ganglion and spinal cord during development and following peripheral or central axotomy.
Expression of mRNAs for the protein tyrosine kinases trk, trkB and trkC, encoding essential components of high-affinity neurotrophin receptors, was studied in the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion during normal development and in the adult rat following peripheral and central axon injury. Northern blots revealed multiple trkB transcripts in the embryonic, early postnatal and adult spinal cord with different patterns of expression during development. The levels of 9.0 kb and 4.8 kb trkB transcripts, encoding a full-length trkB receptor, increased progressively during embryonic development with maximal levels around birth, followed by a decline at adulthood. ⋯ In the same animals, the levels of all five trkB transcripts increased 3-fold in the dorsal root ganglia in response to these two injuries. A small increase was also seen in the level of trkC mRNA. The level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA increased two-fold in the dorsal root ganglia following either of the two lesions, while no change was detected in trk mRNA following these two injuries.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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Brain Res. Mol. Brain Res. · May 1989
Preproenkephalin gene expression in the rat spinal cord after noxious stimuli.
The trans-synaptically activated biosynthesis of the preproenkephalin (PPE) mRNA in the dorsal horn of the rat lumbar spinal cord was examined by an in situ hybridization histochemical technique. As a nociceptive stimulus, a small amount of formalin was injected into the right hindpaw, and quantitative and qualitative changes of PPE-mRNA expression were determined by emulsion autoradiography. ⋯ Expression of PPE-mRNA increased within 1 h after formalin injection in neurons of deep layers, but gradually for at least 24 h in neurons in the superficial layers. These results at the level of the spinal cord showed that differential responses of PPE neurons related to the pain sensation occurred trans-synaptically after nociceptive stimulation applied to the periphery.