Elevation of mRNA levels of tissue-type plasminogen activator and urokinase-type plasminogen activator in hippocampus and cerebral cortex following middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats

AbstractTissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) have been used for thrombolitic therapy. In contrast, it is suggested that these compounds might be involved in neuronal cell damage. The activation and the function of tPA and uPA are less understood in ischemic brain tissue. Therefore, changes in tPA and uPA mRNA in rat brain tissue after MCA occlusion and in the neuronal cell line, PCI2 cells, during the hypoxic stimulation were examined. Permanent middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion was induced by advancing a filament into the internal carotid artery in 36 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. The ischemic cerebral cortex and contralateral cortex of MCA area, and bilateral hippocampus were collected at 0 (controls), 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h after occlusion. Hypoxia was induced in PCI2 cells with a multigas incubator (set to 1% 02). The quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction acted as a measurement of alteration in mRNA levels. The mRNA levels o...