Coordinated Expression of Pro- and Antiapoptotic Proteins
in the Hippocampus of Neonatal Rats

P. N. Men’shanov^a,1, V. V. Muzyka^a,b, and N. N. Dygalo^a,b

^aInstitute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia

^bNovosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia

Received June 24, 2010

Abstract—We studied the contents of the apoptotic proteins Bcl-XL, Bax, and intact and active forms of caspase-
3 using the immunoblot method in the hippocampus and brainstem of 3-day-old rat pups. The expression of pro-
and antiapoptotic proteins in the regions of the developing brain demonstrates individual variability with a varia-
tion coefficient ranging from 10 to 40%. In the brainstem, a structure with a low intensity of apoptosis at this period
of ontogeny, correlations between the expression levels of these proteins were not significant. However, in the hip-
pocampus we observed a significant positive correlation between the levels of expression of the proapoptotic pro-
teins Bax and the active form of caspase-3 (r = +0.653). The levels of these proteins significantly negatively cor-
related with the content of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-XL (r = –0.651 and –0.740, respectively). Our data sug-
gest coordinated expression of the apoptotic cascade proteins in the hippocampus, a brain structure with a high
intensity of elimination of excessive cells during early postnatal ontogeny.

Keywords: neonatal brain development, hippocampus, brainstem, programmed cell death, Bcl-XL, Bax, caspase-
3

DOI: 10.1134/S1819712411010053

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