Jitra Kasisith. Determination of an alteration of neurotransmitter transporter gene and protein expression during rabies virus infection in mouse model . Master's Degree(Microbiology). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2004.
Determination of an alteration of neurotransmitter transporter gene and protein expression during rabies virus infection in mouse model
Abstract:
Rabies virus is the causative agent of hydrophobia, the oldest, untreatable and
the most dreadful disease of humans. Rabies manifestations are the furious and dumb
forms. An animal with furious rabies is agitated, vicious, eventually becomes
paralyzed and dies. An animal with dumb rabies is partially or generally paralyzed at
the beginning. The neuronal pathogenic mechanism between two types of rabies is
still unclear. Many investigations have indicated that there are small amounts of
neuronal damage in street-infected brains and have suggested that viral replication did
not destroy neuronal cells directly, but somehow rabies symptoms were caused by
neuronal dysfunction.
Therefore, the function of the central nervous system was indirectly studied
by detecting the alteration of neurotransmitter transporter genes and proteins during
rabies virus infection in a mouse model, since the neurotransmitter transporters play
an important role on neurotransmitter regulation. GABA transporter-1 (GAT-1),
GABA transporter-3 (GAT-3), Dopamine transporter (DAT) and Serotonin
transporter (SERT) were selected for investigation in this study. The street strain of
the rabies virus induced a significant suppression of serotonin transporters at both the
gene and protein level within 7 days after infection. The GABA transporter-3
increased whereas GABA transporter-1 remained unchanged throughout the course of
infection. The Dopamine transporter showed up-regulation in the early stages but
dropped to a similar level as uninfected mice on day 16.
We concluded that the alteration of the neurotransmitter regulatory system,
especially the aberration of serotonin transporters, is implicated with street rabies
virus pathogenesis. Fluctuation of dopamine transporters and up-regulation of GABA
transporter 3 during rabies infection suggests malfunction of monoaminergic and
nonaminergic neuronal networks in the central nervous system. We believed that
these neuronal dysfunctions are involved in rabies pathogenesis