Published online Nov 26, 2015. doi: 10.4331/wjbc.v6.i4.389
Peer-review started: November 29, 2014
First decision: December 26, 2014
Revised: July 21, 2015
Accepted: August 30, 2015
Article in press: August 31, 2015
Published online: November 26, 2015
Processing time: 361 Days and 21 Hours
AIM: To investigate the impact of MK-801 on gene expression patterns genome wide in rat brain regions.
METHODS: Rats were treated with an intraperitoneal injection of MK-801 [0.08 (low-dose) and 0.16 (high-dose) mg/kg] or NaCl (vehicle control). In a first series of experiment, the frontoparietal electrocorticogram was recorded 15 min before and 60 min after injection. In a second series of experiments, the whole brain of each animal was rapidly removed at 40 min post-injection, and different regions were separated: amygdala, cerebral cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, midbrain and ventral striatum on ice followed by DNA microarray (4 × 44 K whole rat genome chip) analysis.
RESULTS: Spectral analysis revealed that a single systemic injection of MK-801 significantly and selectively augmented the power of baseline gamma frequency (30-80 Hz) oscillations in the frontoparietal electroencephalogram. DNA microarray analysis showed the largest number (up- and down- regulations) of gene expressions in the cerebral cortex (378), midbrain (376), hippocampus (375), ventral striatum (353), amygdala (301), and hypothalamus (201) under low-dose (0.08 mg/kg) of MK-801. Under high-dose (0.16 mg/kg), ventral striatum (811) showed the largest number of gene expression changes. Gene expression changes were functionally categorized to reveal expression of genes and function varies with each brain region.
CONCLUSION: Acute MK-801 treatment increases synchrony of baseline gamma oscillations, and causes very early changes in gene expressions in six individual rat brain regions, a first report.
Core tip: N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAr) are involved in multiple physiological functions and neuropsychiatric disorders. Dizocilpine (commonly referred to as MK-801) is a well-known non-competitive NMDAr antagonist with psychotomimetic properties. A combination of electrophysiological and molecular analyses reveals not only the increased synchrony of baseline cortical gamma oscillations by MK-801, but also more importantly new insight into differential gene expressions in the cerebral cortex, midbrain, hippocampus, ventral striatum, amygdala, and hypothalamus regions after acute low-dose (0.08 mg/kg) MK-801 treatment; only the ventral striatum showed increased gene expression at a high dose (0.16 mg/kg) of MK-801. We believe that our present study will contribute in the understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms of neuropsychiatric disorders.