Increased expression of cyclin D1 in the adult rat brain following kainic acid treatment.

Recent evidence has implicated aberrant cell cycle regulation as a possible mechanism of apoptosis in non-dividing cells. We previously demonstrated increased expression of the p53 tumor suppressor gene, a prominent cell cycle regulator, in apoptotic neurons. Here we investigated the potential involvement of cyclin D1, a G1 phase cell cycle protein under p53 regulation, in kainic acid-mediated neuronal degeneration. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated systemically with kainic acid and sacrificed between 1 h and 5 days following seizure onset. Cyclin D1 expression was studied by Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry using a rabbit polyclonal anti-cyclin D1 antibody. In untreated control rats low levels of cyclin D1 expression were detected in multiple brain regions. Between 8 and 16 h after the onset of kainic acid-induced seizures, increased cyclin D1 immunoreactivity was observed in vulnerable hippocampal pyramidal cells. Five days after seizure onset increased cyclin D1 expression was evident in reactive astrocytes. These results support a role for cyclin D1 in certain neuronal death pathways, and suggest that cyclin D1 has multiple and cell type-specific functions in the central nervous system.