Upregulation of Myo6 expression after traumatic stress in mouse hippocampus

Traumatic stress has been believed to result in a variety of unusual alterations of the integrity and the functionality in the hippocampus. In this study, we searched for genes responsive to traumatic stress in the mouse hippocampus to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Adult male mice were subjected to water-immersion restraint stress (WIRS) for 3 h as an extremely stressful experience, followed by dissection of the hippocampus and subsequent extraction of RNA for differential display polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. The actin-based molecular motor protein myosin VI (Myo6) was identified as a gene markedly upregulated by traumatic stress in the mouse hippocampus 24 h after WIRS. Real-time PCR and Western blotting analyses clearly revealed a significant increase in the expression of both mRNA and corresponding protein for Myo6 in the hippocampus within 24 h after WIRS, while WIRS failed to significantly affect the expression of Myo6 protein in the cerebral cortex, cerebellum and olfactory bulb. Immunohistochemistry analysis revealed that Myo6 protein was ubiquitously expressed throughout the mouse brain, with an extremely high level in the olfactory bulb. These results suggest that Myo6 may be selectively and rapidly upregulated to play a hitherto unidentified role in the maintenance of the integrity and functionality in the hippocampus after traumatic stress.