Delayed induction of JunB precedes CA1 neuronal death after global ischemia in the gerbil

The immediate early genes (IEGs), c-jun, junB and c-fos are expressed after global ischemia in the gerbil. The role of these genes remains unclear. Whilst moderate ischemia (7 min) causes delayed CA1 neuronal death, pre-conditioning with mild ischemia (2 min) neuroprotects the CA1 subfield. This differential response allows the specific expression patterns of IEGs to be associated with either delayed neuronal death, or cell survival, depending upon the insult severity. Using a graded insult strategy we have shown that (1) early IEG expression is prominent in the neuronal layers of the CA3, hilar and dentate regions, and (2) a delayed, secondary wave of JunB expression is localized to the selectively vulnerable CA1 neuronal layer after moderate ischemia. This expression precedes the histological and histochemical features of neuronal death. Delayed JunB expression was not observed in animals subject to 2 min ischemia. The glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) promotor possesses an AP-1 binding site, the target for IEG dimers. To examine the possible link between IEG expression and astrocyte activation the transcriptional activation of GFAP was assessed. GFAP mRNA was evident within 8 h of ischemia after both insults. The extent of the astrocytic reaction was dependent upon the severity of the ischemia. The temporospatial distribution of IEG and GFAP expression differed, indicating that glial activation is unlikely to be regulated by the hippocampal expression of IEGs. We conclude that early IEG expression is involved in signalling mechanisms that invoke neuroprotective effects in the dentate and CA3 regions, and that delayed JunB expression in the CA1 subfield is associated with neuronal death, and may be involved in the commitment or execution phases of cell death. Early astrocytic responses may play a role in the mechanism of ischaemic tolerance.