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J Korean Bal Soc > Volume 2(2); 2003 > Article
Journal of the Korean Balance Society 2003;2(2): 170-174.
Immunohistochemical Identification of Phosphorylated Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase1/2 in Rat Vestibular Nuclei by Unilateral Labyrinthectomy
최명애, 최동옥, 김광영, 이문영, 박병림, 김민선
원광대학교 의과대학 생리학교실
Immunohistochemical Identification of Phosphorylated Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase1/2 in Rat Vestibular Nuclei by Unilateral Labyrinthectomy
Myoung Ae Choi, Dong Ok Choi, Kwang Yong Kim, Moon Young Lee, Byung Rim Park, Min Sun Kim
Department of Physiology, Wonkwang University School of Medicine and Vestibulocochlear Research Center at Wonkwang University Iksan 570-749, South Korea. mskim@wonkwang.ac.kr
ABSTRACT
This study evaluated the expression of phosphorylated signal-regulated kinase1/2 (pERK1/2), which is one of the main factors regulating transcription of the cfos oncogene in neurons, in the vestibular nuclei of Sprague-Dawley rats following unilateral labyrinthectomy (UL). Surgical UL was performed to eliminate afferent signals from the peripheral vestibular receptors in the inner ear, under a surgical microscope, 2 hours after anesthesia. Significant numbers of pERK1/2 immunoreactive neurons were seen in the superior, medial, and inferior vestibular nuclei. There were more pERK1/2 immunoreactive cells in the vestibular nuclei contralateral than in the vestibular nuclei ipsilateral to the injured labyrinth, which resulted in significant asymmetric expression of pERK1/2 immunoreactive cells. Subsequently, the pERK1/2 immunoreactivity decreased rapidly, disappearing 90 min after labyrinthectomy. No pERK1/2 labeling was seen in the lateral vestibular nucleus. These results suggest that intracellular signal pathways for the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase in the vestibular nuclei are involved in lesion-neural plasticity in the vestibular system.
Keywords: Labyrinthectomy; pERK1/2; Vestibular Nucleus; Vestibular compensation
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