Sulfated glycoprotein-2 expression increases in rodent brain after transient global ischemia

Sulfated glycoprotein-2 (SGP-2) is emerging as a prominent marker of neurodegeneration in mammalian brain. Regulation of brain SGP-2 was studied in adult male Wistar rats subjected to 30 min of forebrain ischemia by four vessel occlusion. By 3 days after the ischemic insult, SGP-2 RNA levels were increased two fold in caudate nucleus and hippocampus. SGP-2 protein levels assessed by immunoblots were markedly increased in both brain regions following ischemia. GFAP RNA levels also increased over 5 fold in caudate nucleus and hippocampus following the ischemic insult. Despite significant elevations in GFAP RNA, protein levels of GFAP assessed by immunoblot were only marginally affected. The elevated expression of SGP-2 in rodent brain following this and other experimental lesion paradigms (e.g., excitotoxic lesions, deafferentation) suggest some general involvement of SGP-2 in neurodegeneration and remodelling following neuronal injury.