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Published on: March 23, 2011
[Effects of PM_(2. 5) exposure on synaptic plasticity and Wnt/β-catenin pathway in rat hippocampus]
Pengyou Zhou1, Boxuan Pu1, Yang Liu1
1Hebei Province Key Laboratory of Occupational Health and Safety for Coal Industry, School of Public Health, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan 063210, China.
Objective:
To investigate the effects of PM_(2. 5) exposure on the development of synaptic plasticity and Wnt/β-catenin pathway in hippocampus of offspring rats.
Methods:
Healthy 7-week-old SPF SD rats(n=36) mated with a male to female ratio of 2∶1. Pregnant rats were randomly divided into three groups, including control group, low PM_(2. 5) group, and high PM_(2. 5) group, with eight rats in each group. The low and high PM_(2. 5) concentrations in dynamic exposure cabinet were approximately two times and four times higher than the annual average PM_(2. 5) concentration in Tangshan city respectively. The exposure started from pregnant day 0, until postnatal day 21(PND21) of offspring rats. After weaning, the offspring rats continued to be exposed to PM_(2. 5) until PND42. PND21 and PND42 pups were subjected to Morris water maze and new object recognition experiments. Western blot was used to detect post synaptic density-95(PSD-95), synaptophysin(SYN), growth associated protein(GAP-43), glycogen synthase kinase 3β(GSK-3β), β-catenin protein levels and phosphorylation levels of GSK-3β and β-catenin in the hippocampus of offspring rats.
Results:
Compared with the control group, the learning and memory abilities of the pups of each PM_(2. 5) group were significantly decreased with a dose dependent manner. Compared with the control group, the protein level of SYN, GAP-43 and PSD-95 in hippocampus of PND0 rats of each PM_(2. 5)groups were decreased(P<0. 05), and the protein level of SYN of each PM_(2. 5)group and PSD-95 of high PM_(2. 5) group in PND21 and PND42 were decreased(P<0. 05), and the level of GAP-43 of low PM_(2. 5) group in PND42 were decreased(P<0. 05). Compared with the low PM_(2. 5) group, the level of PSD-95 of high PM_(2. 5) group in PND0 and PND21, the level of PSD-95 of high PM_(2. 5) group in PND0 and PND42 were decreased(P<0. 05). Compared with the control group, the level of p-GSK-3β in hippocampus of each PM_(2. 5)group in PND0, PND21 and PND42 was decreased(P<0. 05), and with the increase of PM_(2. 5) exposure dose, the trend is more obvious. The protein level of p-β-catenin in hippocampus of high PM_(2. 5) group in PND0 and PND42 was significantly increased(P<0. 05). The level of p-β-catenin in high-dose PND21 pups compared with the control group was significantly reduced(P<0. 05).
Conclusion:
Exposure to PM_(2. 5) in early life can damage the synaptic plasticity and decrease the protein levels of β-catenin and p-GSK-3β in the Wnt/β-catenin pathway of hippocampus in offspring rats.
