Exacerbation of apoptosis of cortical neurons following traumatic brain injury in par-4 transgenic mice.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant clinical problem, yet few effective strategies for treating it have emerged. People that sustain and survive a TBI are left with significant cognitive, behavioral, and communicative disabilities. Apoptotic neuronal death occurs following TBI. Prostate apoptosis response-4 (Par-4) is a death domain-containing protein initially characterized as a critical regulator of apoptosis in prostate cancer cells. We have recently generated and characterized Par-4 transgenic mice in which the expression of the par-4 transgene was limited to cells of neuronal lineage. We now provide evidence that, in cortical neurons from these mice, Par-4 drastically increases apoptotic neuronal death in both in vitro and in vivo models of TBI. In vitro experiments were performed in 7-day-old primary cultures of cortical neurons using a previously published, scratch-induced mechanical trauma model. Neurons that overexpress Par-4 showed not only a significant decrease in overall neuron survival after TBI compared to wild-type cells, but also exhibited a sharper decrease in mitochondrial transmembrane potential, a higher degree of free radical accumulation, and earlier activation of caspase-3 than wild-type cells did. In vivo experiments were performed utilizing a weight drop TBI model. A significantly increased volume of cortical injury and exacerbated activation of caspase-3 were observed in Par-4 transgenic mice when compared to those in wild-type mice. These data suggests that aberrant Par-4 expression exacerbates neuronal cell death following TBI by altering mitochondrial function, enhancing oxidative damage, and execution of apoptosis via caspase activation.