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. 2015 Mar 12:9:72.
doi: 10.3389/fncel.2015.00072. eCollection 2015.

The pattern of c-Fos expression and its refractory period in the brain of rats and monkeys

Vanessa N Barros  1 , Mayara Mundim  2 , Layla Testa Galindo  2 , Simone Bittencourt  1 , Marimelia Porcionatto  2 , Luiz E Mello  1
Affiliations

The pattern of c-Fos expression and its refractory period in the brain of rats and monkeys

Vanessa N Barros et al. Front Cell Neurosci. .

Abstract

Intense activation of neurons triggers the appearance of immediate expression genes, including c-Fos. This gene is related to various signal cascades involved in biochemical processes such as neuronal plasticity, cell growth and mitosis. Here we investigate the expression pattern and the refractory period of c-Fos in rats and monkey's brains after stimulation with pentylenetetrazol. Rats and monkeys were sacrificed at various times after PTZ-induced seizure. Here we show that rats and monkeys already showed c-Fos expression at 0.5 h after seizure. Yet, the pattern of protein expression was longer in monkeys than rats, and also was not uniform (relative intensity) across different brain regions in monkeys as opposed to rats. In addition monkeys had a regional brain variation with regard to the temporal profile of c-Fos expression, which was not seen in rats. The refractory period after a second PTZ stimulation was also markedly different between rats and monkeys with the latter even showing a summatory effect on c-Fos expression after a second stimulation. However, assessment of c-Fos mRNA in rats indicated a post-transcriptional control mechanism underlying the duration of the refractory period. The difference in the protein expression pattern in rodents and primates characterizes a functional aspect of brain biochemistry that differs between these mammalian orders and may contribute for the more developed primate cognitive complexity as compared to rodents given c-Fos involvement in cognitive and learning tasks.

Keywords: brain plasticity; c-Fos expression; marmosets; neuronal activation; phylogeny.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The expression pattern of c-Fos in rats and marmosets. (A) The expression pattern of c-Fos in cingulate gyrus (CG), piriform cortex (CP) and motor cortex (MC) in rats. (B) The relative expression of c-Fos in each of the assessed regions in rats, (C) the expression pattern of c-Fos in CG, piriform cortex (PC) and MC in marmosets. (D) The relative expression of c-Fos in each of the assessed regions in marmoset. *p < 0.05 **p < 0.001.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The refractory period of c-Fos. The refractory period of c-Fos protein in CG (A,D), piriform cortex (B,E) and MC (C,F) respectively in rats (A–C) and marmosets (D–F). Relative expression of c-Fos mRNA in fold change is shown in (G). Representative photomicrographs of the c-Fos immunoreactivity for the refractory period assessments for a in marmosets are shown in H, compare the expression pattern at 3 h (after a single seizure) with that 3 h after a second PTZ seizure (12 h after the initial seizure) respectively for cingulate, piriform and MC. *p < 0.05 **p < 0.001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The relative expression pattern of c-Fos mRNA after PTZ seizures in rats. The expression of c-Fos mRNA in groups from Experiment 1 (Control, PTZ 0.5 h; PTZ 1 h, PTZ 3 h, PTZ 6 h) of rats. *p < 0.001.
Figure 4
Figure 4
c-Fos immunohistochemistry in the cingulate cortex of marmosets (first column; A,C,E,G) and rats (second column; B,D,F,H). (A,B)—control group; (C,D)- PTZ 1 h; (E,F)- PTZ 3 h; G-PTZ 9 h; g’- PTZ 12 h; H- PTZ 6 h.
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