Abstract
Colchicine is frequently employed as a pharmacologic tool to enhance perikaryal neuropeptide concentrations, in order to facilitate mapping of functional neuron populations in the brain. However, it is not clear if effects of Colchicine on central neurons include transcriptional activation. The following studies utilized immunocytochemical techniques to evaluate the effects of intracer-ebroventricular (icv) drug treatment on Fos-like immunoreactivity (Fos-li) in preoptic and hypo-thalamic neurons. Since colchicine is administered orally in the treatment of gout-associated arthritis, additional experiments examined whether intragastric delivery of colchicine elicits pro-tooncogene expression by neurons in the brain. Groups of adult male rats were treated with colchicine by icv injection (150 μg/3.0 μl 0.9% saline) or by gavage (4.0 mg/1.0 ml 0.9% saline); vehicle-treated controls received saline alone. All animals were sacrificed 24 hr after drug or vehicle treatment. Serial 25 μm brain sections were processed for Fos-like immunoreactivity using anti-human Fos4–17 antibodies (Ab-2, Oncogene Sciences) in conjunction with avidin-biotin immuno-peroxidase cytochemistry. These studies revealed negligible immunolabeling for Fos 24 hr after vehicle treatment. 24 hr after intracerebral delivery of colchicine, Fos-li was observed within the medial preoptic area, the arcuate nucleus, the supraoptic nucleus, and parvocellular neurons in the paraventricular nucleus. Animals treated with colchicine by gavage exhibited Fos-immunopositive neurons in the same sites, but additional immunolabeling for Fos was also observed within the median preoptic nucleus, suprachiasmatic nucleus, dorsomedial nucleus, and magnocellular neurons in the paraventricular nucleus. These results suggest, first of all, that neuronal responses to colchicine exposure include the synthesis of Fos-like proteins in a number of brain sites, at least over the time frame examined here. The present findings that protooncogene expression occurs within central neurons in response to intragastric drug administration suggest that neuronal activation may in response to drug-induced neural afferent and/or endocrine stimuli of peripheral origin.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Shin, C., McNamara, J. O. Morgan, J. I., Curran, T., and Cohen DR. 1990. Induction of c-fos mRNA expression by afterdischarge in the hippocampus of naive and kindled rats. J. Neurochem. 55:1050–1055.
Greenberg, M. E., Greene, L. A., and Ziff, E. B. 1985. Nerve growth factor and epidermal growth factor induce rapid transient changes in proto-oncogene transcription in PC12 cells. J. Biol. Chem. 260:14101–14110.
Sonnenberg, J. L., Mitchelmore, C., Macgregor-Leon, P. F., Hemsptead, J., Morgan, J. I., and Curran, T. 1989. Glutamate receptor agonists increase the expression of Fos, FRA and AP-1 DNA binding activity in the mammalian brain. J. Neurosci. Res. 24:72–80.
Sharp, F. R., Griffith, J., Gonzalez, M. F., and Sagar, S. M. 1989. Trigeminal nerve section induces Fos-like immunoreactivity (FLI) in brainstem and cortex. Mol. Brain Res. 6:217–220.
Chang, S. L., Squinto, S. P., and Harlan, R. E. 1988. Morphine activation of c-fos expression in rat brain. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 157:698–704.
Aronin, N., Sagar, S. M., Sharp, F. R., and Schwartz, W. 1990. Light regulates expression of a Fos-related protein in the rat SCN. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 87:5959–5962.
Sharp, F. R., Sagar, S. M., Hicks, K., Lowenstein, D., and Hisanaga, K. 1991. c-fos mRNA, Fos, and Fos-related antigen induction by hypertonic saline and stress. J. Neurosci. 11:2321–2331.
Sonnenberg, J. L., Macgregor-Leon, P. F., Curran, T., and Morgan, J. I. 1989. Dynamic alterations occur in the levels and composition of transcription factor AP-1 complexes after seizure. Neuron 3:359–365.
Morgan, J. I., and Curran, T. 1989. Stimulus-transcription coupling in neurons: role of cellular immediate-early genes. Trends in Neurosci. 12:459–462.
Morgan, J. I., Cohen, D. R., Hempstead, J. L., and Curran, T. 1987. Mapping patterns of c-fos expression in the central nervous system after seizure. Science 237:192–197.
Hoffman, G. E., Le, W. W., Abbud, R., Lee, W. S., and Smith, M. S. 1994. Use of Fos-related antigens (FRAs) as markers of neuronal activity: FRA changes in dopamine neurons during proestrus, pregnancy and lactation. Brain Research 654:207–215.
Ceccatelli, S., Villar, M.J., Goldstein, M., and Hokfelt, T. (1989). Expression of c-Fos immunoreactivity in transmitter-characterized neurons after stress. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 86:9569–9573.
Goodman and Gillman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 8th Edition. (1990). Gilman AG, Rall TW, Nies AS, Taylor P, eds. Pergamon Press: New York; 1990. 674–676.
DeKalbian-Verster, F., Robinson, C. A., Hengeveld, C. A., and Bush, E. R. 1971. Freehand cerebroventricular injection technique for unanesthetized rats. Life Sciences 10:1395–1402.
Covenas, R., de Leon, M., Cintra, A., Bjelke, B., Gustafsson, J. A., and Fuxe, K. 1993. Coexistence of c-fos and glucocorticoid receptor immunoreactivities in the CRF immunoreactive neurons of the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus of the rat after acute immobilization stress. Neurosci. Lett. 149:149–152.
Hoffman, G. E., Smith, M. S., and Fitzsimmons, M. D. 1992. Detecting steroid effects on immediate early gene expression in the hypothalamus. Neuroprotocols 1:52–66.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gillen, E., Briski, K.P. Expression of Fos-Like Proteins in the Preoptic Area and Hypothalamus of the Rat Brain Following Intracerebral or Peripheral Administration of Colchicine. Neurochem Res 22, 549–554 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022424200948
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022424200948