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Measuring Nonapoptotic Caspase Activity with a Transgenic Reporter in Mice.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Nicholls, PJ; Pack, TF; Urs, NM; Kumar, S; Zhou, Y; Ichim, G; Ginzel, JD; Turu, G; Calabrese, E; Roberts, WL; Fan, P; Ostapchenko, VG ...
Published in: eNeuro
2022

The protease caspase-3 is a key mediator of apoptotic programmed cell death. But weak or transient caspase activity can contribute to neuronal differentiation, axonal pathfinding, and synaptic long-term depression. Despite the importance of sublethal, or nonapoptotic, caspase activity in neurodevelopment and neural plasticity, there has been no simple method for mapping and quantifying nonapoptotic caspase activity (NACA) in rodent brains. We therefore generated a transgenic mouse expressing a highly sensitive and specific fluorescent reporter of caspase activity, with peak signal localized to the nucleus. As a proof of concept, we first obtained evidence that NACA influences neurophysiology in an amygdalar circuit. Then focusing on the amygdala, we were able to quantify a sex-specific persistent elevation in caspase activity in females after restraint stress. This simple in vivo caspase activity reporter will facilitate systems-level studies of apoptotic and nonapoptotic phenomena in behavioral and pathologic models.

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Published In

eNeuro

DOI

EISSN

2373-2822

Publication Date

2022

Volume

9

Issue

5

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Neuronal Plasticity
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Mice
  • Male
  • Female
  • Caspase 9
  • Brain
  • Apoptosis
  • Animals
  • 1109 Neurosciences
 

Citation

APA
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ICMJE
MLA
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Nicholls, P. J., Pack, T. F., Urs, N. M., Kumar, S., Zhou, Y., Ichim, G., … Caron, M. G. (2022). Measuring Nonapoptotic Caspase Activity with a Transgenic Reporter in Mice. ENeuro, 9(5). https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0147-21.2022
Nicholls, P. J., Thomas F. Pack, Nikhil M. Urs, Sunil Kumar, Yang Zhou, Gabriel Ichim, Joshua D. Ginzel, et al. “Measuring Nonapoptotic Caspase Activity with a Transgenic Reporter in Mice.ENeuro 9, no. 5 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0147-21.2022.
Nicholls PJ, Pack TF, Urs NM, Kumar S, Zhou Y, Ichim G, et al. Measuring Nonapoptotic Caspase Activity with a Transgenic Reporter in Mice. eNeuro. 2022;9(5).
Nicholls, P. J., et al. “Measuring Nonapoptotic Caspase Activity with a Transgenic Reporter in Mice.ENeuro, vol. 9, no. 5, 2022. Pubmed, doi:10.1523/ENEURO.0147-21.2022.
Nicholls PJ, Pack TF, Urs NM, Kumar S, Zhou Y, Ichim G, Ginzel JD, Turu G, Calabrese E, Roberts WL, Fan P, Ostapchenko VG, Guzman Lenis MS, Beraldo F, Hatina J, Prado VF, Prado MAM, Spasojevic I, Snyder JC, Dzirasa K, Johnson GA, Caron MG. Measuring Nonapoptotic Caspase Activity with a Transgenic Reporter in Mice. eNeuro. 2022;9(5).

Published In

eNeuro

DOI

EISSN

2373-2822

Publication Date

2022

Volume

9

Issue

5

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Neuronal Plasticity
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Mice
  • Male
  • Female
  • Caspase 9
  • Brain
  • Apoptosis
  • Animals
  • 1109 Neurosciences