Faculty of Biological Sciences, Nucleus Millennium in Stress and Addiction, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Neurotox Res. 2011 Oct;20(3):289-300. doi: 10.1007/s12640-011-9243-1. Epub 2011 Mar 26.
The transcription factor Nur77 has been identified as a neuronal activation marker of stressful stimuli in the central nervous system. Nur77 plays a key role at all levels of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis during the stress response. However, the participation of Nur77 in extra-hypothalamic responses to stress is unknown. In this study, we studied the impact of acute and repeated immobilization stress on Nur77 expression in the bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST), a region involved in autonomic, neuroendocrine, and behavioral responses to stress. After a single session of immobilization stress we observed a significant increase of Nur77-like immunoreactivity in the BNST. This effect is not lost with repeated exposure to stress, since Nur77-like immunoreactivity and Nur77 mRNA in BNST were increased after the fifteenth stress session. The administration of desipramine, a specific inhibitor of noradrenaline reuptake, prevented the increase in Nur77-like immunoreactivity and mRNA induced by stress in rats subjected to repeated exposure to immobilization stress. Our results show that acute and repeated stress modulates Nur77 expression in BNST and suggest that Nur77 participates in extra-hypothalamic responses to stress.
转录因子 Nur77 已被确定为中枢神经系统应激刺激的神经元激活标志物。Nur77 在应激反应期间在下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴的各个水平发挥关键作用。然而，Nur77 参与应激的下丘脑外反应尚不清楚。在这项研究中，我们研究了急性和重复束缚应激对终纹床核（BNST）中 Nur77 表达的影响，BNST 是参与自主神经、神经内分泌和应激行为反应的区域。在单次束缚应激后，我们观察到 BNST 中 Nur77 样免疫反应性显著增加。这种效应不会因重复暴露于应激而丧失，因为在第十五次应激后，BNST 中的 Nur77 样免疫反应性和 Nur77 mRNA 增加。给予去甲肾上腺素再摄取的特异性抑制剂去甲丙咪嗪可防止重复暴露于束缚应激的大鼠中应激诱导的 Nur77 样免疫反应性和 mRNA 的增加。我们的结果表明，急性和重复应激调节 BNST 中的 Nur77 表达，并表明 Nur77 参与应激的下丘脑外反应。
