Changes in the brain protein levels following administration of kainic acid

Kainic acid (KA), a potent neurotoxin and excitatory amino acid, leads to derangements and modulation of brain proteins. No global brain protein expression pattern induced by KA-treatment has been reported yet. We therefore studied the effect of systemic KA administration on the levels of brain proteins. Rats were injected placebo or KA intraperitoneally and brain was taken after one week. The mitochondrial and cytosolic fractions of the brain proteins were analyzed by proteomics technologies and the levels of selected proteins were quantified using specific software. Heat shock protein HSP 27 was exclusively detected in brains of animals treated with KA, whereas the glucose regulated protein GRP 78 was downregulated. The levels of neurofilaments and alpha-internexin were significantly decreased and a fragment of tubulin alpha-1 chain was manifold increased in KA-brains. The mitochondrial enzymes dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase, ATP synthase beta chain and isocitrate dehydrogenase were reduced and pyruvate kinase M1 was increased following KA treatment. We conclude that the concomitant determination of the brain proteins indicates altered regulation of heat shock proteins, neuronal death, cytoskeletal disruption, and mitochondrial derangement by systemic KA administration. This report confirms and extends previous studies on the effect of KA on the expression of brain proteins and suggests that our analytical system can serve as a model for neurotoxicological, neurobiological, and neuropathological proteome studies.