Related Experiment Videos
c-fos and c-jun mRNA expression in activated cord and adult lymphocytes: an analysis by Northern hybridization
1Department of Pathology, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20037, USA. ldp@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu
Background And Objectives:
To further analyze the neonatal immune response to an antigenic challenge such as blood transfusion, c-fos and c-jun mRNA expression were analyzed in twelve in-vitro-stimulated normal cord blood and ten in-vitro-stimulated normal adult peripheral blood lymphocyte samples.
Materials And Methods:
Lymphocyte samples were stimulated by either the mitogen phytohemagglutinin (PHA) or the monoclonal antibody alphaCD3. Proliferation rate and Northern blot hybridization were employed.
Results:
Cord lymphocytes revealed a greater proliferation rate with PHA and alphaCD3 than adult lymphocytes (p = 0.0081 and 0.0023, respectively). In addition, Northern blot analysis of cord and adult samples revealed similar maximal increases in c-fos (99+/-15 and 126+/-11%, p = 0.0126) and c-jun (123+/-9 and 185+/-38%, p = 0.0291) mRNA expression, respectively, as early as 15 min post-alphaCD3 stimulation. Adult lymphocytes showed an equivalent increase in mRNA expression of c-fos and c-jun (140+/-25 and 155+/-31%) at 30 min post-PHA stimulation, while cord lymphocyte maximum c-fos and c-jun expression (82+/-6 and 142+/-12%) occurred at 15 min post-PHA stimulation (c-fos, p = 0.0354; c-jun, p = 0.0112).
Conclusion:
Although cord lymphocyte proliferation rates were significantly greater than those of adult lymphocytes following stimulation, lymphocyte activation, as analyzed by c-fos and c-jun mRNA expression, appears similar in both cord and adult samples. We conclude that cord lymphocyte activation exhibits an adult-type profile.