Lt. Oconnor et al., EXPRESSION OF AGRIN MESSENGER-RNA IS ALTERED FOLLOWING SEIZURES IN ADULT-RAT BRAIN, Molecular brain research, 33(2), 1995, pp. 277-287
Agrin mRNA is broadly distributed throughout the adult rat brain, cons
istent with its proposed role in synaptogenesis acid the organization
of synaptic proteins in the central nervous system. The present study
examined the effect of neuronal activity on agrin mRNA expression in a
dult rat forebrain using the hilus lesion paradigm for seizure inducti
on and in situ hybridization and polymerase chain reaction techniques
for quantification and characterization of agrin mRNA content. Seizure
s induced rapid, prolonged, and region-specific changes in agrin mRNA
expression with the most prominent alterations occurring in hippocampa
l and cortical neurons. However, there were no detectable perturbation
s in the relative abundance of alternatively spliced agrin transcripts
in affected brain regions. Activity-dependent changes in agrin expres
sion suggest a role for this protein in modifications of synaptic stru
cture associated with functional synaptic, plasticity.