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The Journal of Neuroscience, March 15, 2000, 20(6):2142-2149
Changes in Activating Protein 1 (AP-1) Composition Correspond
with the Biphasic Profile of Nerve Growth Factor mRNA Expression in Rat
Hippocampus after Hilus Lesion-Induced Seizures
Robert C.
Elliott and
Christine M.
Gall
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of California,
Irvine, Irvine, California 92697
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ABSTRACT |
In adult brain, nerve growth factor (NGF) gene expression is
generally upregulated by neuronal activity. However, a single episode
of hilus lesion (HL)-induced limbic seizures stimulates a biphasic
increase in NGF mRNA expression with peaks at 4-6 and 24 hr after
lesion and an intervening return to control levels at 10-12 hr after
lesion. In vitro studies suggest that NGF transcription is regulated via an activating protein 1 (AP-1) binding site in the
first intron of the NGF gene. To examine the relationship between
seizure-induced AP-1 binding and NGF gene expression in this paradigm,
NGF mRNA levels and AP-1 binding were examined after HL seizures.
Furthermore, to gain insight into the functional composition of the
AP-1 complex, supershift analysis was performed to characterize which
Fos and Jun family members are included in the AP-1-binding complex at
the different time points analyzed. Solution hybridization analysis
verified the biphasic increase in NGF mRNA content of the dentate gyrus
after HL seizures. After an initial increase, AP-1 binding slowly
declined in a stepwise manner that encompassed, but did not correspond
with, the two phases of NGF mRNA expression. However, supershift
analyses demonstrated that the relative contributions of JunD and JunB
to the AP-1 complex exhibited positive and negative correlations,
respectively, with the phases of increased NGF expression after HL.
These results suggest that AP-1 complexes containing JunD promote NGF
transactivation and that transient changes in the relative
contributions of JunD and JunB to AP-1 binding underlie the biphasic
increase in NGF gene expression induced by HL seizures.
Key words:
neurotrophin; nerve growth factor; dentate gyrus; transcription factors; gene expression; JunB; JunD; AP-1
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INTRODUCTION |
Intense neuronal activity during
seizure induces changes in neuronal circuitry and synaptic function
(for review, see Ben-Ari and Represa, 1990 ). These activity-dependent
alterations are likely to represent extreme versions of more subtle
changes in neuronal structure and function effected by physiological
levels of activity. As a consequence, there has been a great deal of
interest in the cellular responses to seizures, which may reflect more
general mechanisms of functional neuroplasticity. In this light,
particularly interesting neuronal responses to seizure are changes in
the expression of the nerve growth factor (NGF)-related neurotrophins.
The neurotrophins have been shown to induce axonal sprouting and
neurotransmitter synthesis (Levi-Montalcini et al., 1954 ; Olson and
Malmfors, 1970 ; Gnahn et al., 1983 ) and to potentiate synaptic
transmission (Kang and Schuman, 1995 ; Prakash et al., 1996 ).
Moreover, NGF antibodies retard kindling and block hippocampal
sprouting (Holtzman and Lowenstein, 1995 ; Van der Zee et al., 1995 ).
These data implicate NGF and increases in NGF expression in functional
plasticity changes after seizures. However, despite the variety of
stimuli that alter expression of NGF (for review, see Lindvall et al.,
1994 ), little is known about the transcriptional mechanisms that
mediate these effects.
Results of in vitro studies using NGF promoter-driven
constructs suggest that an intronic activating protein 1 (AP-1) binding site directs NGF transcription (Hengerer et al., 1990 ; Cowie et al.,
1994 ). This is supported by in vivo evidence of increased hippocampal AP-1 binding within an hour after seizure, just before increased NGF gene expression (Sonnenberg et al., 1989a ; Pennypacker et
al., 1993 ). However, the chronic increase in hippocampal AP-1 binding
activity after kainic acid-induced seizures is not linked to
chronically elevated NGF mRNA expression (Gall et al., 1991 ; Pennypacker et al., 1994 ), suggesting that the relationship of AP-1
binding to NGF transcription is not straightforward. AP-1 is a dimer
most typically composed of both Fos and Jun family proteins, although
in a variety of possible combinations (e.g., Fos/JunD, FosB/JunB,
etc.). In adult neurons, increases in the expression of mRNAs for the
various Fos and Jun proteins follow strikingly different time courses
after manipulations including seizures, lesions, and behavioral
training (Sonnenberg et al., 1989a ; Hengerer et al., 1990 ; Nikolaev et
al., 1992 ). Consequently, AP-1 composition generally changes with time
after stimulation (Hope et al., 1994 ; Kaminska et al., 1994 ; Kashihara
et al., 1997 ). In vitro experiments in non-neuronal cells
have demonstrated that different AP-1 complexes bind AP-1 sites with
different affinities (Ryseck and Bravo, 1991 ) and can either stimulate
or inhibit the expression of a given gene (Schutte et al., 1989 ; Suzuki
et al., 1991 ). Therefore, although the AP-1 complex was originally
considered as a transcriptional activator, the various AP-1 complexes
formed after seizure may differentially influence target gene expression.
Recurrent limbic seizures induced by electrolytic hilar lesion
placement stimulates biphasic increases in the NGF mRNA content of the
dentate gyrus granule cells; NGF mRNA levels are markedly increased by
4-6 hr, return to below control labels at 10 hr, and increase a second
time by 24 hr after hilus lesion (HL) placement (Lauterborn et al.,
1994 ). This biphasic profile suggests that seizures induce both
positive and negative influences on NGF expression and that the HL
paradigm might be particularly useful for analyses of regulatory
mechanisms involved. To this end, the present studies used gel shift
and supershift analyses to determine whether AP-1 binding levels and/or
changes in AP-1 composition corresponds with phases of NGF expression
after HL seizures. The results indicate that changes in the composition
of complexes bound to the NGF AP-1 site may underlie both positive and
negative influences on activity-induced NGF gene expression.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
Animal treatment and tissue collection. For seizure
induction, adult male Sprague Dawley rats (Simonsen Labs, Gilmore, CA) were anesthetized (50 mg/kg ketamine and 10 mg/kg xylazine), and an
electrolytic lesion was placed in the right dentate hilus (stereotaxic coordinates: 3.8 mm posterior and 2.4 mm lateral to bregma; 3.0 mm
ventral to brain surface) using an insulated stainless steel wire and
an anodal current (0.8 mA for 7 sec). Such lesions induce bilateral
electrographic seizures within the hippocampus and behavioral seizures
of the limbic kindling type beginning 2-3 hr after lesion placement
and recurring intermittently for 8-10 hr thereafter (Pico and Gall,
1994 ). Light and electron microscopic studies have detected no
secondary cell death outside the immediate field of electrode-lesion
placement in HL rats (Pico and Gall, 1989 ; Bundman et al., 1994 ),
increasing the likelihood that the effects of HL-induced seizures upon
AP-1 binding and NGF mRNA expression in the present study are direct
consequences of seizure activity. After surgery, rats were monitored
for behavioral seizures, with only those exhibiting stage 4 or 5 limbic
seizures [i.e., rearing with forelimb clonus, rearing with clonus and
falling (Racine, 1972 )] included in the study. At 4, 10, and 24 hr
after HL experimental seizure, rats and paired controls were deeply
anesthetized by isoflurane inhalation and decapitated. Their brains
were quickly removed and placed on an ice-cooled stage. The dentate
gyrus region was dissected free by first placing the hippocampus on the
CA1 alvear surface and then cutting longitudinally along both the hippocampal fissure (visible at the tip of the dentate gyrus) and the
ridge at the lateral edge of the external blade of the dentate gyrus.
This separates the regio inferior and subicular regions from the
central, dentate-enriched sample (henceforth referred to as the dentate
gyrus sample), which included the dentate gyrus, some enclosed field
CA3c, and the overlying field CA1b. The zone surrounding the visible
region of the lesion was removed, and then the remaining dentate gyrus
samples from right and left hemispheres were pooled and either frozen
on dry ice for subsequent RNA isolation or immediately homogenized for
nuclear protein extraction (see below). To verify the absence of
seizure-independent effects of lesion placement surgery on NGF mRNA
levels, as demonstrated previously over a 96 hr postlesion time course
(Lauterborn et al., 1994 ), a second set of rats was anesthetized, and
an electrolytic hilus lesion was placed with a platinum-iridium wire
(as above), reproducing the field of ablation made but not inducing
seizure activity (Campbell et al., 1984 ; Pico and Gall, 1994 ); these
rats were killed 4 hr after surgery.
Solution hybridization technique. Dentate gyrus tissue
samples (n = 4 animals per group per time point per
experiment) were homogenized for total cellular RNA extraction using
the protocol for Trizol reagent (Life Technologies,
Gaithersburg, MD). RNA pellets were resuspended in 100 µl of diethyl
pyrocarbonate-treated H2O and measured
spectrophotometrically at OD260nm and
OD280nm to determine the yield and purity of RNA.
The solution hybridization technique (SHyT) used for measuring specific
mRNA species has been described previously (Elliott et al., 1994 ) and
is based on a modified protocol for ribonuclease protection of
32P-labeled riboprobes hybridized to
complementary RNAs (Hellman et al., 1988 ; Zhu et al., 1992 ). In brief,
NGF antisense riboprobe was prepared from a construct in which a 771 base pair fragment of the rat NGF 3' exon was subcloned into a
pBluescribe vector (Stratagene, La Jolla, CA). T3 transcription of
PvuII-linearized template with
32P-labeled nucleoside triphosphates gives
a 947 base antisense riboprobe containing 176 bases of vector linker
sequence. Equal amounts of total cellular RNA from control and post-HL
time points were individually hybridized with riboprobe in a
TES-based hybridization buffer and allowed to incubate at 75°C
for 4 hr. After hybridization, samples were digested with RNases A and
T1 and then precipitated with trichloroacetic acid (TCA). Hybridized
precipitation products were collected over glass microfiber filters
(Whatman, Fairfield, NJ) using a 10-place cell harvester
(Hoefer/Pharmacia, Piscataway, NJ). Filters were washed three times
with 5% TCA, dried, and counted with a standard scintillation counter.
Specific hybridization was verified by alternatively running
ribonuclease-digested samples on a denaturing polyacrylamide gel and
visualizing hybridized fragments autoradiographically (Fig.
1). A standard curve was performed for
each assay using NGF sense mRNA prepared from in vitro
transcription of the rat cDNA construct used to prepare riboprobe.

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Figure 1.
Representative PAGE gel showing specific
hybridization of 32P-labeled NGF antisense riboprobe to
total cellular RNA from rat dentate gyrus. Representative gel shown for
NGF riboprobe hybridized against 50 µg of total cellular RNA
extracted from dentate gyrus subfield dissections of naive control,
platinum wire lesion, and experimental seizure (4, 10, and 24 hr after
HL) rat hippocampus. After RNase digestion of hybridized samples,
protected fragments were run out on a 4% polyacrylamide-8
M urea gel and visualized autoradiographically to verify
specific hybridization.
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Preparation of brain nuclear extracts. After subfield
dissection, the dentate gyrus samples (n = 3-5 animals
per group per time point per experiment) were processed for nuclear
protein extraction based on the protocol of Korner et al. (1989) with modifications. Tissue was added to a glass homogenizer (Wheaton, Millville, NJ) on ice containing 1 ml of buffer A (10 mM HEPES, pH 7.9, 1.5 mM
MgCl2, 10 mM KCl, 1 mM dithiothreitol, and the protease inhibitors 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 10 µg/ml leupeptin, and 10 µg/ml aprotinin) and transferred to a cold room where the following procedures were performed. Tissue was homogenized by five strokes with a loose pestle, followed by five strokes with a
tight pestle. The tissue homogenate was transferred to a 1.5 ml
Eppendorf tube and incubated for 15 min after which 55 µl of 10%
Nonidet NP-40 was added, followed by 1 min of high-speed microcentrifugation. After discarding the supernatant, the pellet was
resuspended in 150 µl of buffer B (20 mM HEPES,
pH 7.9, 0.84 M NaCl, 1.5 mM
MgCl2, 0.4 mM EDTA, 50%
v/v glycerol, 1 mM dithiothreitol, and protease
inhibitors as above) and incubated for 15 min. The homogenate was
centrifuged at 14,000 rpm in a tabletop microfuge for 15 min, and the
supernatant was removed into a fresh Eppendorf tube. Protein content
was quantified by the Bradford method (Bradford, 1976 ).
Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (gel shift) and supershift
analysis. Nuclear extracts were subjected to gel shift and supershift analysis according to the protocol of Kaminska et al. (1994)
with modifications. AP-1 consensus oligonucleotides (21-mer double-stranded), described in detail below, were
32P-labeled with T4 polynucleotide kinase.
Fifteen micrograms of protein extract from samples at each experimental
time point were combined with 25,000 cpm of labeled probe and buffered
with 10 mM HEPES, pH 7.9, 25 mM KCl, 0.5 mM EDTA, 0.25 mg/ml bovine serum albumin, 20 µg/ml poly(dI-dC), and 1 mM dithiothreitol (15 µl total volume) and
incubated at room temperature (RT) for 30 min. When supershifting, 200 ng of antibody was mixed with 1 µg of mock or blocking peptide,
incubated at 4°C overnight, combined with the protein extract, and
then incubated at 4°C for 2 hr before addition of buffer and the
radiolabeled oligonucleotide. After the 30 min incubation, 2 µl of
0.1% bromophenol blue was added to each sample before loading on a low
ionic strength (0.25× Tris-Borate-EDTA) 4% polyacrylamide gel.
Electrophoresis was run for 1.5 hr at 100 V, after which gels were
fixed, dried, and exposed to autoradiographic film (X-Omat AR; Eastman
Kodak, Rochester, NY). Densitometric evaluation of gel shift bands in
the film autoradiograms was performed using the MicroComputer Imaging
Device (MCID) system (Imaging Research, St. Catherines, Ontario).
Oligonucleotides and antibodies. Initial electrophoretic
mobility shift assay (EMSA) studies used 21-mer double-stranded
oligonucleotides containing the consensus AP-1 site (TGAC/GTCA) from
two sources, with the following sequences: pAP1 oligonucleotide, c g c
t t g a t g a g t c a g c c g g a a; and NGFAP1
oligonucleotide, g c a t c g g t g a g t c a g g c t g c g.
pAP1 was purchased commercially (Promega, Madison, WI), and NGFAP1 was
synthesized in single-strand form (Operon, Alameda, CA) and annealed
with its complementary strand in 10 mM Tris, pH 7.5, and 10 mM MgCl2 by heating at 80°C for 15 min and cooling slowly to RT. Although both sequences share the
consensus AP-1 site (shown in bold type above), the flanking sequence
in pAP1 is that of rat collagenase and that of NGFAP1 is identical to the sequence flanking the AP-1 site in the rat NGF gene (Zheng and
Heinrich, 1988 ). Subsequent supershift studies used only NGFAP1.
Commercial antibodies (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA)
directed against c-Fos (catalog #sc-52), FosB (catalog #sc-48), Fra2 (catalog #sc-171), c-Jun (catalog #sc-45), JunB (catalog #sc-46),
and JunD (catalog #sc-74), along with the corresponding blocking
peptides for each antibody, were used for supershift analysis.
According to manufacturer specifications, all antibodies are rabbit
polyclonal IgGs and show no detectable cross-reactivity with other
members of the Fos and Jun protein families.
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RESULTS |
SHyT quantitation of NGF mRNA after HL-induced seizures
SHyT was used to confirm and quantify changes in NGF mRNA content
in the dentate gyrus at a range of time points after placement of a
seizure-producing HL. First, preliminary RNase protection analysis was
used to verify the presence of changes in NGF mRNA content in the
dentate-enriched dissected samples used here. As shown in Figure 1, a
single protected band was only faintly evident in samples from the
dentate gyrus of naive control rats and from rats with a platinum wire
hilar ablation (but no seizure activity). In contrast, in samples from
experimental seizure rats, the protected NGF mRNA fragment was greater
at both 4 and 24 hr after HL, with an intervening return to control
levels at the 10 hr post-HL time point (Fig. 1). Complete SHyT analysis
quantified the increases in NGF mRNA content at 4 and 24 hr after
lesion at 680 and 300% control values, respectively (Fig.
2). In contrast, NGF mRNA levels were not
significantly different from control values in samples from
rats killed at 10 hr after HL (Fig. 2). As with the RNase protection
analysis, NGF mRNA levels in samples from platinum wire lesion control
rats killed at 4 hr after HL were also not significantly different from
naive control values, indicating that lesion placement in the absence
of seizure activity had no substantial effect on NGF mRNA
expression.

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Figure 2.
SHyT quantitation of NGF mRNA levels after
HL. Fifty micrograms of total cellular RNA were extracted from the
dentate gyrus of naive control, platinum wire lesion, and experimental
seizure (4, 10, and 24 hr after HL) rats and analyzed for levels of NGF
mRNA using the SHyT. Data are the mean ± SEM of values obtained
from four independent experiments. *p < 0.05 compared with naive control values; Fisher's PLSD post
hoc analysis.
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EMSA analysis of AP-1 binding
Previous studies have demonstrated that DNA regions flanking an
AP-1 site may influence AP-1 binding specificity and affinity (Ryseck
and Bravo, 1991 ), suggesting that an AP-1 site-containing oligonucleotide with random flanking sequence may yield different EMSA
results than those obtained with an oligonucleotide with AP-1 flanking
sequences found in the NGF gene. To test this possibility, initial EMSA
experiments assessed AP-1 binding using both a frequently used,
collagenase-derived AP-1 site-containing oligonucleotide (pAP1) and an
oligonucleotide duplicating the rat NGF AP-1 site and flanking
sequence (NGFAP1). Under identical conditions, both oligonucleotides were used in gel shift analyses of dentate gyrus nuclear extracts purified from control rats and rats killed 4 hr after
HL (i.e., 2 hr after seizure onset). Extracts from HeLa cells, known to
contain AP-1 binding activity, were assayed in parallel and served as
positive controls. As shown in Figure 3, both oligonucleotides formed a single shifted oligomer complex with
HeLa cell extract. Moreover, both oligonucleotides formed the same
protein-DNA complex (i.e., a band shifted to the exact same position)
with dentate gyrus extracts from 4 hr HL rats but not from control
rats. Although the amount of complex formed with the NGFAP1
oligonucleotide was markedly less than that obtained with pAP1, these
results demonstrate that seizures increase AP-1 protein binding to the
AP-1 binding site within the NGF gene and that the NGFAP1
oligonucleotide can be used to assay change in this specific activity
over time. Therefore, to maximize the relevance of further analysis to
NGF gene expression, subsequent EMSA used NGFAP1 alone. As shown in
Figure 4a, the specificity of
the AP-1 protein-NGFAP1 oligomer complex was examined by verifying
that the addition of excess unlabeled NGFAP1 oligomer blocked complex formation. Moreover, analysis of dentate gyrus extracts from naive control and platinum wire lesion rats showed a common lack of detectable AP-1 binding (Fig. 4b), indicating that, like
changes in NGF mRNA content, lesion placement in the absence of
seizures does not increase binding activity to the NGFAP1 sequence as
evaluated at 4 hr after lesion.

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Figure 3.
Comparison of generic and NGF-like AP-1
site-containing oligomers in the EMSA. Representative gel shift
experiment using generic (pAP1) and NGF-like (NGFAP1) AP-1
site-containing oligomer 32P-labeled probes to assess AP-1
binding in nuclear extracts from HeLa cells and naive and 4 hr post-HL
rat dentate gyrus. Experiments were repeated three times with similar
results.
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Figure 4.
Characterization of the NGFAP1 oligomer probe in
EMSA experiments. a, EMSA comparison of dentate gyrus
nuclear extracts from naive and 4 hr post-HL rats was performed in the
presence of excess unlabeled NGFAP1 probe. Elimination of the AP-1
shifted oligomer band by the cold probe indicates the specificity of
the AP-1 protein-NGFAP1 probe interaction (compare with nonspecific
binding band, which is unchanged by presence of cold oligomer).
b, EMSA comparison of dentate gyrus extracts from naive
control, platinum wire lesion, and 4 hr post-HL rats, indicating that
surgical technique and lesion placement were not sufficient to induce
AP-1 binding. All experiments repeated three times with similar
results.
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Gel shift analysis was used to determine the relative levels of NGFAP1
binding activity within dentate gyrus nuclear extracts from rats killed
4, 10, and 24 hr after seizure-producing HL placement (Fig.
5). As in previous reports of the effects
of seizures on AP-1 activity (Sonnenberg et al., 1989a ; Pennypacker et
al., 1993 ), NGFAP1 binding was markedly elevated above naive control
levels at 4 hr after HL. After this initial rise, AP-1 binding activity declined slowly, falling to 54% of peak values at 10 hr after HL and
to 13% of peak values at the 24 hr time point. Note, however, that at
all time points the level of AP-1 binding detected is significantly
higher than the virtually undetectable degree of AP-1 binding found in
control tissue.

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Figure 5.
EMSA analysis of AP-1 binding 4, 10, and 24 hr
after HL. a, Representative EMSA gel showing time course
of AP-1 binding to NGFAP1 probe using dentate gyrus nuclear
extracts from naive rats and rats killed 4, 10, and 24 hr after
HL. b, Quantitation of AP-1 binding profile based on
densitometric evaluation of EMSA gels from five independent
experiments. Bars show group means ± SEM.
*p < 0.05 compared with values obtained with
extracts from control rats; Fisher's PLSD post hoc
analysis. **p < 0.05 compared with values obtained
with extracts from control rats and 4 hr post-HL rats; Fisher's PLSD
post hoc analysis.
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Supershift analysis of AP-1 complex composition
Results presented above demonstrate that, despite elevated AP-1
binding at 4, 10, and 24 hr after HL, NGF mRNA content is elevated at 4 and 24 hr after lesion but returns to control levels at the 10 hr time
point. This suggests that there are changes in the nature of the AP-1
binding activity across these time points and, in particular, that the
AP-1 complex bound at 10 hr after HL does not activate NGF mRNA
expression. To determine whether there are changes in AP-1 composition
associated with positive and negative NGF regulation, supershift
analyses of nuclear extracts from each time point were conducted with
antibodies against the AP-1 proteins c-Jun, JunB, JunD, c-Fos, FosB,
and Fra2. Fra1 was not included because of immunocytochemical
evidence that Fra1 expression is most prominent within glial cells in
tissue from experimental seizure rats (J. Pinkstaff and C. Gall,
personal communication).
Antibody recognition of a component of the AP-1 complex typically leads
to slower migration, or supershifting, of the AP-1-oligonucleotide band. Alternatively, if the antibody binds its respective AP-1 protein
in a manner that prevents DNA binding, the result is a diminution of
the AP-1-oligonucleotide band. However, in supershift analyses, there
is concern that band diminution can also occur because of nonspecific
antibody-AP-1 interactions and, more importantly, that the degree of
this nonspecific diminution varies between antibodies. Therefore, to
ensure that band diminution in our antibody-treated samples was
attributable to specific antibody recognition of AP-1 proteins, control
samples were run for each antibody in each experiment in which the
antibody was incubated with its respective blocking peptide before
addition of nuclear extract, allowing a highly accurate supershift
analysis. The importance of these controls is validated by comparing
the various antibody control samples in the following supershift data
(Figs. 6,
7) in which the varying intensities of
the respective AP-1 bands reflects the differing amounts of nonspecific
antibody-AP-1 interaction. All supershift experiments were repeated a
minimum of four times with highly reproducible results. However, even
under optimal conditions, the shifted and supershifted bands are too
diffuse and nonuniform (i.e., typically being darker at the edges of
the lane than in the middle) to be reliably and reproducibly
quantified; hence, our evaluation of this experimental data is strictly
qualitative.

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Figure 6.
Supershift analysis of AP-1 composition with Jun
family antibodies after HL. Dentate gyrus nuclear extracts from rats 4, 10, and 24 hr after HL were incubated with antibodies against various
Jun family members and then EMSA-probed with 32P-labeled
NGFAP1 oligomer. Antibodies were preincubated with antigenic blocking
peptide (+ lanes) or mock peptide ( lanes) to control for nonspecific antibody effects on
AP-1-NGFAP1 binding. Supershifting and/or diminution of the
AP-1-shifted oligomer band by a particular antibody is indicative of
participation of the respective protein in the AP-1 complex.
Experiments were repeated four times with similar results.
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Figure 7.
Supershift analysis of AP-1 composition with Fos
family antibodies after HL. Dentate gyrus nuclear extracts from rats 4, 10, and 24 hr after HL were incubated with antibodies against various
Fos family members and then EMSA-probed with 32P-labeled
NGFAP1 oligomer. Antibodies were preincubated with antigenic blocking
peptide (+ lanes) or mock peptide ( lanes) to control for nonspecific antibody effects on
AP-1-NGFAP1 binding. Experiments were repeated four times with similar
results.
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As shown in Figure 6, supershift analyses indicate that the AP-1
participation of Jun family members was limited to JunB and JunD at
experimental time points evaluated. In particular, pretreatment with
the JunB antibody in the absence of blocking peptide led to the
appearance of a supershifted band that was greatest in samples from the
10 hr postlesion time point, of intermediate density at the 4 hr time
point, and just barely detectable in dentate extracts collected at 24 hr after HL. In contrast, pretreatment of nuclear extracts with JunD
antibodies did not give rise to a supershifted band but did cause a
marked diminution in the density of the AP-1 complex band, indicating a
significant contribution of JunD to AP-1 activity in experimental
tissue. This diminution was prominent with nuclear extracts from rats
killed at 4 and 24 hr after lesion but was not evident at the 10 hr
post-HL time point. Finally, pretreatment with c-Jun antibodies did not
supershift or diminish AP-1 binding activity at any experimental time point.
Similarly, Fos family participation in the AP-1 complex appeared to be
restricted to just two members, c-Fos and FosB, with Fra2 antibodies
failing to have any detectable effect on bound AP-1 band intensity or
position at any postlesion time point (Fig. 7). With nuclear extracts
prepared from rats killed at 4 and 10 hr after HL, pretreatment with
c-Fos antibodies gave rise to a modest supershifted band that appeared
to be proportionately more dense at the 4 hr time point. This c-Fos
containing band was not evident at 24 hr after HL. In contrast,
pretreatment with FosB antibodies gave rise to a supershifted band that
became progressively more intense from 4 to 10 to 24 hr after lesion.
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DISCUSSION |
Neurotrophins have been implicated in the development and
maintenance of epileptic patterns of neuronal activity and as mediators of physiological processes, such as learning and memory. In a general
model applicable to both functions, activity-induced expression of one
or more neurotrophins would in turn facilitate synaptic function (Kang
and Schuman, 1995 ; Prakash et al., 1996 ) and axonal growth and
synaptogenesis (Holtzman and Lowenstein, 1995 ), resulting in a
long-term strengthening of circuit function for better (as a cellular
strategy for learning) or worse (in the case of epileptogenesis). The
cellular underpinnings for this model are the molecular mechanisms responsible for altered neurotrophin expression and/or signaling after
intense neuronal activity. To begin investigating this aspect of
activity-induced changes in neuron structure and function, the present
studies analyzed the transcriptional regulation of one particular
neurotrophin, NGF, after HL-induced seizures. In addition to its
demonstrated importance in seizure-induced hippocampal sprouting
(Holtzman and Lowenstein, 1995 ; Van der Zee et al., 1995 ), we focused
on NGF in the HL paradigm because of its unique biphasic profile of
expression over the 24 hr post-HL period (Lauterborn et al.,
1994 ), suggesting the presence of both positive and negative regulation
of transcriptional activity.
The available evidence suggests that seizure-induced NGF expression in
the brain is predominantly, if not fully, regulated through AP-1
activation (Zheng and Heinrich, 1988 ; Hengerer et al., 1990 ; Cowie et
al., 1994 ). However, previous studies of seizure-induced changes in
AP-1 binding and NGF gene expression have been conducted independently,
using different techniques and paradigms. Moreover, most of what is
known about NGF promoter usage and AP-1 composition and function has
come from in vitro manipulations of fibroblasts or other
cell lines; this relationship is relatively unstudied under more
physiological conditions. To assess the correlation between AP-1
binding and NGF mRNA expression in situ, the present studies
performed parallel measures of NGF mRNA expression, AP-1 binding, and
AP-1 composition after HL-induced seizures. Initial gel shift results
obtained with the prototypical collagenase AP-1 site-containing
nucleotide differed significantly from results obtained with an
oligonucleotide containing the NGF AP-1 site and flanking sequences.
These results are consistent with evidence that sequences flanking the
AP-1 site can markedly influence the binding of AP-1 heterodimers
(Ryseck and Bravo, 1991 ) and indicate that analyses of AP-1 binding
that is relevant to the regulation of a specific gene, such as that
encoding NGF, should use oligonucleotides that replicate sequences
within that gene. Therefore, NGF AP-1 oligonucleotides were used
exclusively in subsequent EMSA experiments performed on nuclear
extracts from experimental seizure rats.
Solution hybridization analysis verified the biphasic profile of NGF
mRNA expression in the dentate gyrus of HL seizure rats; NGF mRNA
levels were significantly increased at 4 and 24 hr after lesion, with
an intervening return to control values at the 10 hr postlesion time
point. In contrast to this pattern, but in agreement with results of
studies using a variety of seizure paradigms (Sonnenberg et al.,
1989a ,b ; Hope et al., 1994 ; Pennypacker et al., 1994 ), binding to the
NGF AP-1 site was significantly elevated by 4 hr after HL and remained
elevated through 10 and 24 hr after seizure induction. One obvious
explanation for the lack of correlation between NGF AP-1 binding and
NGF transcriptional activity, as seen most particularly at the 10 hr
time point, is that AP-1 binding does not influence NGF transcription
to the extent suggested from in vitro studies. However, an
alternate and more likely explanation is that changes in the
composition of AP-1 heterodimers occurring with time after seizure
onset underlie alterations in AP-1 function and, most particularly, NGF
transactivation potential.
There is evidence that the composition of AP-1 binding changes with
time after depolarization and seizures. Among the Fos family members,
c-Fos generally predominates at early time points and is replaced with
Fos-related antigens, or Fras, at later intervals (Sonnenberg et al.,
1989b , Szekely et al., 1990 ) (for review, see Morgan and Curran, 1991 ).
Similarly, after kainate-induced seizures, JunB and JunD are major
components of AP-1 binding at early and late time points, respectively
(Kaminska et al., 1994 ). It has been shown that changes in AP-1
composition can increase or suppress transactivation of target genes in
a number of systems (Schutte et al., 1989 ; Suzuki et al., 1991 ; Hsu et
al., 1993 ). To see whether changes in the composition of NGF AP-1
protein binding correlate with phases of NGF expression in HL rats,
supershift experiments were performed using antibodies to AP-1 proteins
reported previously to be induced by seizures.
Although both c-Jun and Fra2 are induced by seizures (Sonnenberg et
al., 1989a ,c ; Gass et al., 1992 ), neither was detected in
complexes binding the NGF AP-1 site in HL rats. With c-Jun, it is
possible that expression is transiently increased before 4 hr after HL,
the earliest time point examined. After pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures, c-jun mRNA levels rise within 1 hr, decline by 4 hr, and approach control levels by 6 hr of treatment (Sonnenberg et al., 1989c ). However, changes in c-Jun protein content would be expected to occur later (Dragunow et al., 1992 ; Gass et al., 1992 ) and to overlap time points examined. Indeed, immunostaining for c-Jun is elevated in hippocampus of HL rats through 10 hr after seizure
(C. Gall, unpublished observations). This raises the alternative possibility that c-Jun and Fra2 levels are indeed sufficient to make
significant contributions to AP-1 complex formation in HL rats but that
these particular dimers have relatively low affinity for the NGF AP-1
site. Composition-dependent AP-1 binding affinities have been
demonstrated previously for different Fos/Jun family heterodimers
in vitro (Ryseck and Bravo, 1991 ). Differences in dimer
affinity might also explain the apparent discrepancy between c-jun message expression and c-Jun detectability in the AP-1
complex after kainic acid-induced seizures (Kaminska et al., 1994 ).
Unlike c-Jun, JunB and JunD contributed to NGF AP-1 binding in a
time-dependent manner. In HL rats, the greater proportion of
JunD-containing AP-1 at time points when NGF mRNA levels are increased,
and the converse domination by JunB-containing AP-1 when NGF expression
is minimal, suggests that JunD-containing dimers activate NGF
transcription, whereas JunB-containing dimers do not. This hypothesis
is consistent with evidence that JunB can inhibit activation by c-Jun-
and JunD-containing dimers (Schutte et al., 1989 ; Kobierski et al.,
1991 ; Ryseck and Bravo, 1991 ; Hsu et al., 1993 ).
Changes in the relative involvement of c-Fos and FosB in NGF AP-1 were
also observed over time after HL placement. Both c-Fos and FosB
stimulate transcription from AP-1 sites, so the transition from an AP-1
complex containing c-Fos to one containing FosB does not immediately
suggest an alteration in AP-1 function. However, future investigations
into the relative contributions of full-length FosB and truncated FosB,
the latter of which has been shown to be capable of suppressing AP-1
activity (Mumberg et al., 1991 ; Nakabeppu and Nathans, 1991 ; Yen et
al., 1991 ), may provide further insight into the effects of this transition.
To conclude, the present results demonstrate that, after HL seizures,
there are changes in the composition of dimers binding the NGF AP-1
site that correlate with, and potentially subserve, time-dependent
changes in NGF transcription. In particular, it is hypothesized that
predominant involvement of JunD and JunB in binding to the NGF AP-1
site accounts for activation and inhibition of NGF transcription,
respectively, and specifically for biphasic increases in NGF expression
in the dentate gyrus of HL rats. From the uniform pattern of basal and
postseizure NGF and Fos/Jun mRNA and protein expression throughout
stratum granulosum (Gall and Isackson, 1989 ; Kiessling et al., 1993 ;
Lanaud et al., 1993 ; Beer et al., 1998 ), it is expected that changes in
AP-1 composition described here occur in a similar synchronous manner
throughout the granule cell layer. However, the possibility remains
that transient changes in the expression of different AP-1 proteins by
other minority cell types within the dentate gyrus (e.g., hilar and
CA3c neurons) may have contributed to changes in AP-1 composition demonstrated in the present supershift analyses. Thus, to both extend
the present analysis and begin testing the proposed antagonistic roles
of JunB and JunD in AP-1 transactivation of NGF, studies determining
the effects of deleting specific Fos and Jun proteins (e.g., FosB,
JunB) (Mandelzys et al., 1997 ) on AP-1 binding and NGF transcription
after seizure will be particularly informative. Moreover, the
complexity of AP-1 function necessitates the consideration of alternate
mechanisms, such as changes in the phosphorylation state of AP-1
proteins, a modification that has been shown to affect AP-1 binding and
transcriptional activity (Kobierski et al., 1991 ; Bannister et al.,
1994 ; Gruda et al., 1994 ) and may be influenced by NGF itself (Morgan
and Curran, 1986 ). Other nontraditional uses of the AP-1 promoter could
also be influencing NGF transcription, including binding of
heterodimers containing members of the Maf and activating transcription
factor/cAMP response element-binding protein families of
proteins (Hai and Curran, 1991 ; Kerppola and Curran, 1994 ).
These and other mechanisms are not necessarily mutually exclusive and
may work in concert with the reported alterations in AP-1 composition
to precisely regulate NGF gene expression after both physiological and
pathological levels of neuronal activity.
 |
FOOTNOTES |
Received Aug. 6, 1999; revised Nov. 30, 1999; accepted Jan. 5, 2000.
This work was supported by National Institute of Neurological Disorders
and Stroke Grant NS26748 to C.M.G.
Correspondence should be addressed to Robert C. Elliott, Department of
Neurology, Box 0435, University of California, San Francisco, San
Francisco, CA 94143-0435. E-mail: rce{at}itsa.ucsf.edu.
Dr. Elliott's present address: Department of Neurology, University of
California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143.
 |
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