Entorhinal cortex lesion in the mouse induces transsynaptic death of perforant path target neurons

Entorhinal cortex lesion (ECL) is a well described model of anterograde axonal degeneration, subsequent sprouting and reactive synaptogenesis in the hippocampus. Here, we show that such lesions induce transsynaptic degeneration of the target cells of the lesions pathway in the dentate gyrus. Peaking between 24 and 36 hours post-lesion, dying neurons were labeled with DeOlmos silver-staining and antisera against activated caspase 3 (CCP32), a downstream inductor of programmed cell death. Within caspase 3-positive neurons, fragmented nuclei were co-localized using Hoechst 33342 staining. Chromatin condensation and nuclear fragmentation were also evident in semithin sections and at the ultrastructural level, where virtually all caspase 3-positive neurons showed these hallmarks of apoptosis. There is a well-described upregulation of the apoptosis-inducing CD95/L system within the CNS after trauma, yet a comparison of caspase 3-staining patterns between CD95 (Ipr)- and CD95L (gld)-deficient with non-deficient mice (C57/bl6) provided no evidence for CD95L-mediated neuronal cell death in this setting. However, inhibition of NMDA receptors with MK-801 completely suppressed caspase 3 activation, pointing to glutamate neurotoxicity as the upstream inducer of the observed cell death. Thus, these data show that axonal injury in the CNS does not only damage the axotomized neurons themselves, but can also lethally affect their target cells, apparently by activating glutamate-mediated intracellular pathways of programmed cell death.