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Ischemia-related changes of fat-mass and obesity-associated protein expression in the gerbil hippocampus

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Abstract

Fat-mass and obesity-associated protein (Fto) plays important roles in energy metabolism. It also acts as a demethylase and is most abundantly found in the brain. In the present study, we examined the spatial and temporal changes of Fto immunoreactivity after five minutes of transient forebrain ischemia in the hippocampus. In the control group, Fto immunoreactivity was mainly observed in the nucleus of pyramidal cells in the CA1 and CA3 regions as well as the polymorphic layer, granule cell layer, and subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus. Fto immunoreactivity was transiently, but not significantly, increased in the hippocampal CA3 region and the dentate gyrus two days after ischemia compared to mice without ischemia in the sham-operated group. Four days after ischemia, low Fto immunoreactivity was observed in the stratum pyramidale of the CA1 region because of neuronal death, but Fto immunoreactive cells were abundantly detected in the stratum pyramidale of the CA3 region, which is relatively resistant to ischemic damage. Thereafter, Fto immunoreactivity progressively decreased in the hippocampal CA1 and CA3 regions and the dentate gyrus until ten days after ischemia. At this time-point, Fto immunoreactivity was significantly lower in the hippocampal CA1 and CA3 regions and the dentate gyrus compared to that in the sham-operated group. The reduction of Fto immunoreactive structures in the hippocampus may be associated with impairments in Fto-related hippocampal function.

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Acknowledgements

This study has been worked with the support of a research grant of Kangwon National Universtiy in 2017.

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Author notes

  1. Woosuk Kim and Min Soo Kang have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, College of Veterinary Medicine, and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, 85-508 Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Seoul, 08826, South Korea

    Woosuk Kim, Hyo Young Jung & In Koo Hwang

  2. Department of Biomedical Sciences, and Research Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hallym University, Chuncheon, 24252, South Korea

    Woosuk Kim

  3. Department of Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine and Institute of Veterinary Science, 411-105 Kangwon National University, 1 Kangwondaehak-gil, Chuncheon, 24341, South Korea

    Min Soo Kang, Tae Hyeong Kim & Jung Hoon Choi

  4. Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, 31151, South Korea

    Dae Young Yoo

  5. Department of Anatomy, College of Korean Medicine,, Dongguk University, Gyeongju, 38066, Republic of Korea

    Joon Ha Park

  6. Department of Neurobiology, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, 24341, South Korea

    Moo-Ho Won

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  1. Woosuk Kim
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Correspondence to Jung Hoon Choi or In Koo Hwang.

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The experimental protocol of this study was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at Kangwon National University (KW-170613-2) and is in accordance with the guidelines following current international laws and policies (NIH Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, The National Academies Press, 8th Ed., 2011).

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Kim, W., Kang, M.S., Kim, T.H. et al. Ischemia-related changes of fat-mass and obesity-associated protein expression in the gerbil hippocampus. Metab Brain Dis 35, 335–342 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11011-019-00513-1

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