Effect of stress on mouse and rat brain metallothionein I and III mRNA levels

The effect of immobilization stress on brain and liver metallothionein (MT) mRNA levels has been studied in mice and rats. Stress increased brain and liver MT-I mRNA levels in mice in a time-dependent manner, in agreement with the MT-I+II protein levels, suggesting an increased gene transcription during stress. In contrast, the brain-specific isoform, MT-III, tended to decrease during stress. In selected brain areas of rats, the overall tendency for both MT-I and MT-III mRNA levels was to be transiently decreased by stress in hippocampus, and increased in hypothalamus, cerebellum and the remaining brain tissue; adrenalectomy significantly affected MT mRNA levels either in basal conditions or during stress, with very different temporal patterns of response depending on the brain area studied. These results suggest that glucocorticoids could be involved in MT-I but also MT-III regulation. In both rats and mice, the subtle response to stress observed in the brain contrasts with the robust response in the liver, suggesting that the factors involved in MT regulation in both tissues differ substantially. In primary cultures enriched in astrocytes or neurons, MT-III mRNA was clearly detected by Northern blotting in both cases, suggesting that it is expressed in both types of cells. Dexamethasone appeared to decrease MT-III mRNA levels in cultured neurons and to increase them in astrocytes, which indicates that glucocorticoids have a different role in MT-III regulation in both cell types.