Changes in ribosomal protein S3 immunoreactivity and its protein levels in the gerbil hippocampus following subacute and chronic restraint stress.

Ribosomal protein S3 (rpS3), a multi-functional protein, has been known to participate in DNA repair mechanism. In this study, we investigated changes in rpS3 immunoreactivity and its protein levels in the sub-regions of the gerbil hippocampus following subacute and chronic restraint stress. Serum corticosterone levels were increased in both the subacute and chronic-stress-groups compared to the control-group: the level in the subacute-stress-group was much higher than that in the chronic-stress-group. We could not find any neuronal damage in all the sub-regions of the hippocampus after both the subacute and chronic restraint stress. In the subacute-stress-group, rps3 immunoreactivity was not different compared to the control-group. However, rps3 immunoreactivity in the chronic-stress-group was decreased compared to the subacute-stress-group: especially, the immunoreactivity was markedly decreased in the pyramidal cells of the hippocampus proper (CA1-CA3 region) and granule cells of the dentate gyrus. In addition, western blot analysis also showed that rpS3 protein levels in the chronic-stress-group were significantly decreased compared to those in the subacute-stress-group. These findings indicate that chronic stress, not subacute stress, can decrease rpS3 immunoreactivity.