Autoradiographic distribution of [3H]neurotensin receptors in the brains of superoxide dismutase transgenic mice

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) plays an important role in the protection of cells against the deleterious effects of free radicals by dismutating the toxic superoxide anion radical. Although oxygen-based radicals have been implicated in the process of aging and in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease, the contribution of these free radicals to the pathology of these entities has yet to be clarified. It is also not certain that increased levels of free radical scavenging enzymes would attenuate the molecular and cellular processes that lead to these pathological states. In order to asses the contribution of increased SOD gene dosage to the pathogenesis of Down's syndrome, transgenic mice have been constructed that overexpress the human CuZnSOD. We are also using this model to evaluate the role of free radicals in age-associated changes in brain neurotransmitters and their receptors. In the present study, transgenic mice and their nontransgenic littermates, aged 6 weeks and 21 months, were used in an autoradiographic receptor study of the distribution of brain neurotensin receptors. At 6 weeks of age, there were no significant differences between the two groups of mice in most brain regions. In addition, [3H]NT binding sites showed parallel age-related decreases in the majority of the areas examined in both groups. However, significant age-related decreases in the septum, the diagonal band of Broca, and in some subdivisions of the caudate-putamen were observed only in SOD-Tg mice. In contrast, significant age-related decreases in the core area of the nucleus accumbens and the dorsal aspect of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus were seen only in non-Tg mice. Interestingly, there were increases in NT binding sites in the CA2 area of the hippocampus in both groups of mice. These results suggest that oxygen-based radicals might play a role in the biochemical changes that occur in NT receptors during the process of aging since these receptors were differentially affected in some regions of the brains of SOD-Tg mice and of their littermates, which contrast in their ability to scavenge the superoxide radical. Published 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.