Developmental profile of glutamine synthetase in lines of mice bred for ethanol sensitivity.

Publication/Presentation Date

11-1-1989

Abstract

Glutamine synthetase (GS) activity was used as a marker to examine differences in astrocyte development in mice selectively bred for ethanol sensitivity: long sleep (LS), short sleep (SS), mild ethanol withdrawal (MEW), severe ethanol withdrawal (SEW) and control ethanol withdrawal (CEW). We found that 1) GS activity in MEW and SEW was higher than in LS and SS during the first 2 weeks of postnatal development, in the forebrain but not in the cerebellum; 2) lower GS activity was observed consistently in all areas examined with the SS mice as compared to the LS; 3) glutamine synthetase activity in MEW and SEW differed significantly from their controls (CEW) during the early developmental period regardless of the brain region examined; however, after 30 days of maturation, GS activity in SEW was higher than that in MEW and CEW in the forebrain. Astrocytes are known to contribute in the regulation of the neuronal microenvironment. Therefore, we interpret the differences we found in astrocytic function during early brain development among these lines of mice to account in part for the neuronal predisposition to ethanol sensitivity.

Volume

24

Issue

3

First Page

391

Last Page

397

ISSN

0360-4012

Disciplines

Diagnosis | Medicine and Health Sciences | Other Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment | Radiology

PubMedID

2574240

Department(s)

Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Medical Imaging

Document Type

Article

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