Research ReportNeuroprotective effects of okadaic acid following oxidative injury in organotypic hippocampal slice culture

- OA reduces the generation of ROS in organotypic hippocampal cultures.
- OA reduces neuronal cell death.
- OA activates survival signals.
- OA reduces latency and increases amplitude of optical signals for synaptic activity.

Oxidative stress produces neurotoxicity often related with various CNS disorders. A phosphatase inhibitor enhances the actions of the signaling kinases. Protein kinases mediated-action shows the neural protection in brain injury. Phosphatase inhibitor, okadaic acid (OA), may enhance the protection effect and benefit to improve neuronal plasticity in post-injury. Thus, we investigated that the protein prophatase inhibitor affects neuroprotective signaling and neuroplastic changes in hippocampus after oxidative injury. Electrophysiological and biochemical assays were used to observe changes in synaptic efficacy following electrical and/or pharmacological manipulation of synaptic function. Neuronal cell death, as assessed by propidium iodide (PI) uptake, was reduced by OA treatment (24 and 48 h) compared with KA treatment. The pattern of DCFH-DA fluorescence in hippocampal slices corresponded well with PI uptake. The phospho-AKT/AKT ratio showed that the level of phospho-AKT was significantly increased in the OA-treated group. Furthermore, the OA-treated group exhibited significantly increased expression of SOD2 compared with the KA-only group. Optical imaging revealed that KA treatment tended to delay the latency of electrical stimulation and decrease the amplitude of optical signals of synaptic activity. These results suggest that OA may protect hippocampal neurons against oxidative stress and the survived neurons may functional to synaptic plasticity changes.