Induction of highly polysialylated neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) in postischemic gerbil hippocampus mainly dissociated with neural stem cell proliferation.

We investigated a possible expression of highly polysialylated neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) in gerbil hippocampus after 5 min of transient global ischemia in association to the proliferation of neural stem cell labeled with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). The number of PSA-NCAM positive cells increased in the granule cell layer (GCL) of dentate gyrus (DG) by 1.9 to 2.7-fold at 10 and 20 days after the reperfusion. The number of BrdU-labeled cells increased mainly in the subgranular zone of DG by 7.2 to 8.0-fold at 5 and 10 days after the reperfusion. Immunofluorescence for PSA-NCAM and BrdU showed that the majority of DG cells were not double labeled, while one or two cells per section were double labeled in the deepest portion of the GCL only at 10 days after the reperfusion. These results suggest different predominant spatial distribution and chronological change of PSA-NCAM positive and BrdU-labeled cells in DG after transient ischemia.