Age-Related Changes of Glutamate Transporters in the Rat Cerebellum.
10.11637/kjpa.2008.21.4.371
- Author:
Eun Young LEE
1
;
Woong CHOI
Author Information
1. Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea. eylee@chungbuk.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Glutamate transporters;
GLT-1;
GLAST;
Cerebellum;
Aging
- MeSH:
Aged;
Aging;
Animals;
Blotting, Western;
Brain;
Cerebellum;
Formaldehyde;
Glutamic Acid;
Humans;
Neuroglia;
Perfusion;
Polymers;
Rats;
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
- From:Korean Journal of Physical Anthropology
2008;21(4):371-380
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
In the present study, we examined the distribution and amount of two important glutamate transporters, GLT-1 and GLAST in the cerebellum of young and aged rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were used at the age of three months for young control (n=3) and 24 months for aged group (n=4). After transcardial perfusion with 4% paraformaldehyde, brain sections were immunostained for GLT-1, and GLAST. We found that GLT-1- and GLAST-immunoreactive materials were diffusely distributed throughout the gray matter of the cerebellum. Pre-embedding immunoelectron microscopic study demonstrated that the two glutamate transporters in the cerebellum were restricted to glial cells with astrocytic features. The intensity of GLT-1-immunostaining in the cerebellum appeared to be higher in aged rats than in young rats whereas GLAST-immunostaining decreased with aging. Western blot results were also consistent with the immunohistochemical observations. Conclusively, GLT-1 and GLAST expression in the rat cerebellum was changed with aging, i.e, increase of GLT-1 and decrease of GLAST expression with aging, which suggests that the two glutamate transporters might be regulated by different underlying mechanisms with aging.
