Late Effect of Developmental Exposure to 3,3'-Iminodipropionitrile on Neurogenesis in the Hippocampal Dentate Gyrus of Mice.

The effects of developmental exposure to 3,3'-iminodipropionitrile (IDPN), a neurotoxicant that causes proximal axonopathy, on mouse hippocampal neurogenesis was examined. Pregnant mice were exposed to IDPN at 0, 600, or 1200 ppm in their drinking water from gestational day 6 to postnatal day (PND) 21. On PND 21, male offspring showed increased postmitotic neuron-specific NeuN-immunoreactive(+) granule cell numbers in the dentate subgranular zone (SGZ) and granule cell layer (GCL) and decreased glutamate receptor gene Grin2d levels in the dentate gyrus at 1200 ppm. On PND 77, decreased numbers were observed for TBR2+ progenitor cells in the SGZ at ≥600 ppm and GFAP+ stem cells, DCX+ progenitor cells and immature granule cells, NeuN+ immature and mature granule cells, PCNA+ proliferating cells in the SGZ and/or GCL, and immunoreactive cells for ARC or FOS, immediate-early gene products related to neuronal and synaptic plasticity, in the GCL at 1200 ppm. Additionally, at 1200 ppm of IDPN, downregulation of Kit, the gene encoding the stem cell factor (SCF) receptor, and upregulation of Kitl, encoding SCF, were observed in the dentate gyrus. Therefore, maternal IDPN exposure in mice affects neurogenesis involving glutamatergic signals at the end of developmental exposure, with late effects suppressing SGZ cell proliferation, reducing the broad range of granule cell lineage population, which may be responsible for SCF receptor downregulation. The upregulated SCF was likely a feedback response to the decreased receptor level. These results suggest that reduced SCF signaling may cause suppressed neuronal and synaptic plasticity.