Expression features of cold inducible RNA binding protein in rat brains under hypothermia

CHAI Xubin; LIU Aijun; ZHANG Zhiwen; XUE Jinghui; YAN Runmin

Abstract：Objective The expression of RNA-binding protein (CIRP) in the rat brain under hypothermia is investigated.Methods Rats were divided into two groups:control group under normothermia and experimental group under hypothermia.The rats were decapitated after hypothermia for 2 h.Total RNA was isolated according to the TRIzol method.RNA was reverse transcribed to obtain cDNA.Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed to detect CIRP mRNA expression in the rat brain.A real-time PCR system was used to quantitatively analyze CIRP mRNA expression in the rat brain, heart, and liver.Results CIRP mRNA expression was detected in all brain, heart and liver tissues.Under hypothermic conditions, CIRP mRNA expression was increased in the hypothalamus, cortex, and hippocampus.However, the most obvious increase was observed in the hippocampus. Quantitative analysis demonstrated that hypothermia significantly induced the increased expression of CIRP mRNA in the cortex, compared with the control group (1.5 fold).However, the expression remained unchanged in the heart and liver.Conclusion CIRP overexpression in the rat, particularly in the hippocampus and cortex, parallels the reduction in hypothermia.Hypothermia, however, does not affect the CIRP mRNA expression in the heart and liver. These results indicate that CIRP may be induced by hypothermia characteristically in the brain tissues.