RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Prostaglandin F2α Is Required for NMDA Receptor-Mediated Induction of c-fos mRNA in Dentate Gyrus Neurons
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 117
OP 124
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.17-01-00117.1997
VO 17
IS 1
A1 Leslie S. Lerea
A1 Noel G. Carlson
A1 Michele Simonato
A1 Jason D. Morrow
A1 Jack L. Roberts
A1 James O. McNamara
YR 1997
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/17/1/117.abstract
AB Activation of NMDA receptors has been linked to a diversity of lasting physiological and pathological changes in the mammalian nervous system. The cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying permanent modifications of nervous system structure and function after brief episodes of neuronal activity are unknown. Immediate-early genes (IEGs) have been implicated in the conversion of short-term stimuli to long-term changes in cellular phenotype by regulation of gene expression. The intracellular signaling pathways coupling activation of receptors at the cell surface with induction of IEGs in the nucleus are incompletely understood. NMDA produces a striking increase in the IEG c-fos in dentate gyrus (DG) neurons in vitro; this induction is dependent, in part, on the arachidonic acid cascade. Here we show that NMDA receptor activation triggers the synthesis of the prostaglandins PGF2α and PGE2, but not PGD2, in rat cerebral cortical neurons in vitro. We further demonstrate that PGF2α, but not PGE2 or PGD2, is necessary but not sufficient for NMDA induction of c-fosmRNA in DG neurons. These findings provide insight into the molecular events coupling activation of the NMDA receptor with regulation of the IEG c-fos and identify the diffusable messenger PGF2α as obligatory for NMDA receptor-mediated transcription of a nuclear IEG.