Fol. Biol. 2017, 63, 91-97
Oxytocin Modulates Expression of Neuron and Glial Markers in the Rat Hippocampus
Neuropeptides including oxytocin belong to the group of factors that may play a role in the control of neuronal cell survival, proliferation and differentiation. The aim of the present study was to investigate potential contribution of oxytocin to neuronal differentiation by measuring gene and protein expression of specific neuron and glial markers in the brain. Neonatal and adult oxytocin administration was used to reveal developmental and/or acute effects of oxytocin in Wistar rats. Gene and protein expression of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in the hippocampus was increased in 21-day and 2-month old rats in response to neonatal oxytocin administration. Neonatal oxytocin treatment induced a significant increase of gene and protein expression of the marker of astrocytes – glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP). Oxytocin treatment resulted in a decrease of oligodendrocyte marker mRNA – 2’,3’-cyclic nucleotide 3’-phosphodiesterase (CNPase) – in 21-day and 2-month old rats, while no change of CD68 mRNA, marker of microglia, was observed. Central oxytocin administration in adult rats induced a significant increase of gene expression of NSE and CNPase. The present study provides the first data revealing the effect of oxytocin on the expression of neuron and glial markers in the brain. It may be suggested that the oxytocin system is involved in the regulation of development of neuronal precursor cells in the brain.
Keywords
neuron, astrocyte, oligodendrocyte, oxytocin, neuropeptide, marker.
Funding
The work was supported by the projects 2/0119/15 and 2/0116/16 of the Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education and Slovak Academy of Sciences (VEGA), and by project APVV-0253-10 of the Slovak Research and Development Agency.
References
Copyright
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
