Intrastriatal and intraventricular injections of oligodeoxynucleotides in the rat brain: tissue penetration, intracellular distribution and c-fos antisense effects.

We have determined the time course, the spatial spread in brain tissue, and the intracellular distribution of biotin- and fluorescein-labeled phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) following single injections into the rat striatum or the lateral ventricle. These time and space parameters were correlated with the ability of c-fos phosphorothioate antisense ODNs to suppress the induction of Fos protein by cocaine. A rapid and dose-dependent tissue penetration of labeled ODNs was observed following either intrastriatal or intraventricular injections of a constant sample volume. Inspection of tissue sections by confocal microscopy uncovered a distinct change in the intracellular disposition of labeled ODNs during the 24 h post-injection period. At 1, 6 and 12 h, the vast majority of the fluorescent signal was confined to the interstitial spaces throughout the zone penetrated by ODNs. Neuronal nuclei displayed faint labeling along the outer portion of the nucleus at 1 and 6 h post-injection. At these time-points, ODNs were not detected in the cytoplasm. By 16 h, ODNs were barely detectable in the extracellular space and absent from neuronal nuclei. Instead, ODNs were seen in large cytoplasmic granules of neurons throughout the tissue zone penetrated by the ODNs. Experiments with intrastriatal injections of antisense ODNs to c-fos mRNA revealed Fos suppression between 3 and 12 h, but not at 16 and 24 h. This combined analysis has revealed that (1) restricted tissue penetration by ODNs limits their antisense effects on protein expression, and (2) depletion of extracellular ODNs and sequestration of c-fos antisense ODNs into large intracellular granules coincides with the loss of their biological activity.

Influence of infectious dose upon productive replication and transynaptic passage of pseudorabies virus in rat central nervous system.

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is a neurotropic swine alpha herpesvirus that characteristically invades the nervous system and replicates within synaptically-linked populations of neurons. The invasive characteristics and ability of this family of viruses to replicate in neurons of the central nervous system (CNS) have been exploited to map functionally related populations of neurons in a variety of systems. In this report, we examined the effects of strain and concentration on the ability of PRV to infect retinal ganglion cells and pass transneuronally through central visual circuits. We find that the ability of virulent (PRV-Becker) and attenuated (PRV-Bartha) strains of PRV to produce a productive infection of visual circuitry is directly dependent upon the infectious of the injected virus. Injections of at least 10(5) total plaque forming units produce 100% infectivity, whereas lower infectious doses substantially reduce the percentage of animals exhibiting productive infection via this route of inoculation. Furthermore, the virulent strain of PRV consistently infects a higher percentage of animals across a broader range of titers than attenuated virus. These data demonstrate that viral titer and strain are important variables that should be considered in the design of studies and interpretation of data derived from investigations employing this pathogen for circuit analysis.

Specific pseudorabies virus infection of the rat visual system requires both gI and gp63 glycoproteins.

Transneuronal transport of pseudorabies virus (PRV) from the retina to visual centers that mediate visual discrimination and reflexes requires specific genes in the unique short region of the PRV genome. In contrast, these same viral genes are not required to infect retinorecipient areas of the brain involved in circadian rhythm regulation. In this report, we demonstrate that viral mutants carrying defined deletions of the genes encoding glycoprotein gI or gp63, or both, result in the same dramatic transport defect. Efficient export of either gI or gp63 from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus in a fibroblast cell line requires the presence of both proteins. We also show that gI and gp63 physically interact, as demonstrated by pulse-chase and sucrose gradient sedimentation experiments. Complex formation is rapid compared with homodimerization of PRV glycoprotein gII. We suggest that gI and gp63 function in concert to affect neurotropism in the rat visual circuitry and that a heterodimer is likely to be the unit of function.

Comparison of recombinant plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and epsilon amino caproic acid in a hemorrhagic rabbit model.

A rabbit ear model of blood loss was developed to compare the effects of an active form of recombinant plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (rPAI-1) with epsilon amino caproic acid (EACA) in antagonizing tissue-type plasminogen activator (r-tPA)-induced blood loss. The antagonism of both rebleeding, which occurs as a result of hemostatic plug degradation, and r-tPA-induced hemorrhage, where rabbits lose approximately 30% of their blood volume, was studied. rPAI-1 (1 mg/kg i.v.) or EACA (70 mg/kg i.v.) antagonized the rebleeding induced by r-tPA (10 micrograms kg-1 min-1) to a similar extent. In the hemorrhagic studies, rPAI-1 effectively antagonized the r-tPA-induced hemorrhage with an ED50 of 3 mg/kg i.v., while the ED50 obtained for EACA was 230 mg/kg i.v. rPAI-1 may be of value in reversing r-tPA-induced blood loss during thrombolytic therapy or in clinical situations where excessive fibrinolysis contributes to bleeding.