Expression of thymosin beta4 mRNA by activated microglia in the denervated hippocampus

Thymosin beta4 is a major actin-sequestering molecule. Here, we report a prominent upregulation of thymosin beta4 in the hippocampus following entorhinal deafferentation. Northern blotting displayed a transient increase of thymosin beta4 mRNA in the deafferented hippocampus by 1.8, 2.3, 1.3 and 1.1-fold of controls, respectively, at 1, 3, 7 and 15 days post-lesion. In-situ hybridization confirmed that the induction of thymosin beta4 mRNA specifically occurred in the entorhinally denervated zones of the hippocampus. The double labeling of in-situ hybridization for thymosin beta4 mRNA with isolectin B4 cytochemistry showed that isolectin B4-positive microglial cells are responsible for deafferentation-induced thymosin beta4 mRNA expression. The results suggest that thymosin beta4 may participate in the process of microglial activation, which is the earliest event in lesion-induced plasticity.