Induction of junD mRNA after transient forebrain ischemia in the rat. Effect of hypothermia

The expression of junD was studied in the rat hippocampus by in situ hybridization after 15 min of normothermic (37 degrees C) and hypothermic (33 degrees C) transient forebrain ischemia. Ischemia was induced by common carotid artery occlusion combined with hypotension leading to damage in the CA1 region of the hippocampus which was prevented by hypothermia. junD mRNA was induced in the hippocampus within 2 h of reperfusion and was strong in the dentate gyrus but weak in the CA3 and CA1 subregions. Intraischemic hypothermia significantly augmented the junD induction in the dentate gyrus. During late reperfusion (between 12 and 36 h after ischemia) a transient increase in junD mRNA was seen in the normothermic CA3 which was abolished in the hypothermic brains. In contrast, in the normothermic CA1 a continuous increase of junD was seen. This was significantly reduced by intraischemic hypothermia. We suggest that the early induction in junD expression in the dentate gyrus and in the hypothermic CA3 region is a protective reaction to the ischemic stress. The marked increase in resistant brain areas could be due to the preserved intracellular signaling pathways and a subsequent maintenance of protein synthesis. The late continuous increase, unique to the vulnerable normothermic CA1 region, suggests that junD participates in a transcriptional process that may be important for delayed neuronal death in the hippocampus following transient forebrain ischemia.