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ARTICLE
Alteration of ADP-ribosylation in aging rat brain astrocytes
Manoochehr MESSRIPOUR1, Azadeh MESRIPOUR2
1
Department Clinical Biochemistry, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
2
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
* Address correspondence to: Manoochehr Messripour,
BIOCELL 2019, 43(1), 37-40. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2019.05865
Abstract
DNA damage and the enzyme poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) associated with the pathogenesis
of numerous age-related neurodegenerative disorders. Astrocytes play crucial roles in both support metabolic
functions and cell viability of the brain. PARP regulates DNA damage and repair in the brain cells. In this study PARP
activity and DNA strand break were investigated in the astrocytes isolated from young and aged rat brain. Three and
30-month-old rats were killed by decapitation and brains were removed onto an ice cooled glass plate. Astrocytes were
isolated by sucrose density gradient centrifugation and glutamine synthetase (GS) served as a marker of the astrocytes
lineage. The specific activity of PARP was assayed in permeabilized cells by measuring the incorporation of the ADPribose moiety of [3H]NAD into the nuclear acceptor proteins. The rate of DNA strand breaks was determined using
a fluorescent dye and monitored spectrofluorimetry. An increase (about 75%) in the PARP activity was observed in
the whole homogenates of aged rats, whereas this rise was more pronounced (about 360%) when the reaction was
measured in the purified astrocyte preparations. The amount of DNA strand breaks was also higher in the astrocytes
isolated from the aged brain as compared to that of young levels. The close relationship between the level of DNA
strand breaks and PARP activity in the astrocytes suggest that these cells are susceptible to the metabolic alterations in
aging. It is concluded that the astrocytes PARP might be considered as a therapeutic target for combating age related
neurodegenerative disorders.
Keywords
Cite This Article
MESSRIPOUR, M., MESRIPOUR, A. (2019). Alteration of ADP-ribosylation in aging rat brain astrocytes.
BIOCELL, 43(1), 37–40. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2019.05865