Survival of parvalbumin-immunoreactive neurons in the gerbil hippocampus following transient forebrain ischemia does not depend on HSP-70 protein induction.

HSP-70 was induced in the gerbil following 20 min of forebrain ischemia. The induction, as revealed with immunohistochemistry, is stronger and longer-lasting in CA3 and dentate gyrus than in CA1. Most neurons in this region, except GABAergic interneurons containing the calcium-binding protein parvalbumin, eventually cease to live as a result of delayed cell death. Double-labeling of inducible HSP-70 and parvalbumin has shown that no co-localization occurs in the hippocampus and neocortex of the gerbil in this model of transient forebrain ischemia. These results show that different thresholds of sensitivity and vulnerability exist for different subpopulations of neurons in the ischemic hippocampus, and suggest that HSP-70 protein induction is probably not essential for the survival of particular neuronal subpopulations subjected to transient ischemia.