LE3 .A278 2007

2007

Wilson, Brian
Smith, Todd

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Biology

Biology

Relaxin is a hormone with widespread and varied effects in animals. For example, relaxin has been shown to reduce the cellular damage associated with ischemia and reperfusion in the heart, intestine, pancreas, and brain. This study was performed to investigate the effects of relaxin on damage to the brain sustained during ischemia and reperfusion. Two studies were performed: an acute study using freshly harvested slices of adult rat brain and a study using organotypic cultures of newborn rat brain. Damage, the amount of dead tissue, was assessed in the acute system using triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining, and assessed in the organotypic system using propidium iodide staining. Paraffinembedded organotypic slices were also immunostained for heat shock proteins 27 (Hsp27) and 70 (Hsp70) to determine if relaxin had a direct effect on cellular stress responses in glial cells and neurons. In both the acute and organotypic models, relaxin treatment slowed the progression of ischemic damage. Hsp70 immunostaining was initially reduced immediately following ischemia with respect to the slices not exposed to relaxin, whereas Hsp27 immunostaining was minimal. Hsp70 immunostaining increased at the 3 hour post-ischemia time point and Hsp27 immunostaining decreased. These results suggest a cellular role for relaxin in reducing the cellular stress associated with ischemia.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:510