The neuroprotective role of exogenous TERT gene in neonatal rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage
HAO Feng-Yan, QU Yi, ZHANG Li, HUANG Lan, LIU Hai-Ting, LI Jiao, MU De-Zhi
Department of Pediatrics, West China Second Hospital, Sichuan University/Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children, Ministry of Education, Chengdu 610041, China
Abstract：Objective To study the effect of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) on cell apoptosis in neonatal rat brains after hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HIBD). Methods A total of 72 neonatal rats were divided into sham, vehicle, HIBD and TERT groups. HIBD was induced by Rice method in the later three groups. The neonatal rats in the vehicle and TERT groups were injected with plasmids containing mock or full length TERT by an intracerebroventricular injection 30 minutes after hypoxic-ischemic (HI) injury. Pathological changes of brain tissue were observed by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of TERT, apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) and cleaved caspase 3 (CC3). Apoptotic cells were detected by TUNEL staining. Results Western blot showed that TERT protein was dramatically increased in the vehicle, HIBD and TERT groups compared with the sham group. Compared with the vehicle and HIBD groups, TERT protein in the TERT group was significantly upregulated. Compared with the sham group, there was a significant increase in apoptotic index and expression of AIF and CC3 proteins in the vehicle and HIBD groups (P < 0.01). The TERT group showed decreased expression of AIF and CC3 proteins and apoptotic index compared with the vehicle and HIBD groups (P < 0.01). Conclusions TERT can inhibit cell apoptosis induced by HI and might have a neuroprotective role in developing brain with HIBD.
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