Changes in ubiquitin and ubiquitin-protein conjugates in the CA1 neurons after transient sublethal ischemia

Ubiquitin is involved in the degradation of denatured proteins in the recovery process after various stresses. To clarify the different responses of the ubiquitin system in the hippocampal neurons after ischemia, we chose 7.5 min of sublethal forebrain ischemia in the rat. After 7.5 min of ischemia, ubiquitin-like immunoreactivity (UIR) in most of the hippocampal pyramidal cells, except for the interneurons, diminished after 3 h of reperfusion, but enhanced UIR and subsequent recovery of UIR were observed in the different hippocampal regions after 24 h of reperfusion. The most prolonged recovery of UIR in the hippocampal cells was observed in the CA1 neurons after 72 h of reperfusion. Immunoblot analysis of the proteins extracted from CA1 region showed that high-mol-wt ubiquitin conjugates (HMWUC) above 40 kDa increased, whereas free ubiquitin and ubiquitinated histone 2A decreased slightly after 4 h and 24 h of reperfusion. At 72 h of reperfusion, HMWUC decreased to the original level and free ubiquitin slightly increased beyond the control level. These results suggested that (1) diminished UIR does not always mean depletion of entire ubiquitin-protein conjugates; (2) even after sublethal ischemia, damaged proteins in the CA1 neurons may increase, and it may take a long time for elimination of these proteins.