Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, 221005, India.
Mol Neurobiol. 2015;51(3):1130-8. doi: 10.1007/s12035-014-8780-z. Epub 2014 Jun 26.
Neuropsin (NP) is a serine protease, implicated in synaptic plasticity and memory acquisition through cleavage of synaptic adhesion molecule, L1CAM. However, NP has not been explored during brain aging that entails drastic deterioration of plasticity and memory with selective regional vulnerability. Therefore, we have analysed the expression of NP and correlated with its function via analysis of endogenous cleavage of L1CAM and level of dendritic marker MAP2c in different regions of the aging mouse brain. While NP expression gradually decreased in the cerebral cortex during aging, it showed a sharp rise in both olfactory bulb and hippocampus in adult and thereafter declined in old age. NP expression was moderate in young medulla, but undetectable in midbrain and cerebellum. It was positively correlated with L1CAM cleavage and MAP2c level in different brain regions during aging. Taken together, our study shows age-dependent regional variation in NP expression and its positive correlation with MAP2c level, suggesting the involvement of NP in MAP2c mediated alterations in dendritic morphology during aging.
神经蛋白酶（NP）是一种丝氨酸蛋白酶，通过切割突触黏附分子 L1CAM，参与突触可塑性和记忆获得。然而，NP 在涉及到可塑性和记忆急剧恶化的大脑老化过程中尚未被研究，且具有选择性的区域易损性。因此，我们分析了 NP 的表达，并通过分析内源性 L1CAM 的切割和不同脑区树突标记物 MAP2c 的水平来研究其功能。随着衰老过程中大脑皮层 NP 表达逐渐下降，其在成年嗅球和海马中急剧上升，随后在老年时下降。NP 在年轻的延髓中有中等表达，但在中脑和小脑中无法检测到。它与不同脑区衰老过程中 L1CAM 切割和 MAP2c 水平呈正相关。综上所述，我们的研究表明 NP 表达具有年龄依赖性的区域性变化，且与 MAP2c 水平呈正相关，提示 NP 参与了 MAP2c 介导的衰老过程中树突形态的改变。
