Acute hypoxia induces elevation of ornithine decarboxylase activity in neonatal rat brain slices

Recent studies in vivo have demonstrated that ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity in the fetal rat brain is elevated 4-5-fold by acute maternal hypoxia. This hypoxic-associated increase is seen in the rat brain in both the newborn and the adult. Because of the intimate involvement of ODC in transcription and translation, as well as in growth and development, it is imperative that the manner in which hypoxia affects the regulation of this enzyme be better understood. In order to achieve this, a brain preparation in vitro was required to eliminate the confounding effects of the dam on the fetal and newborn brain ODC activity in vivo. Therefore, brain slices from 3-4-day-old (P-3) newborn rats were utilized to test the hypothesis that ODC activity increases in response to hypoxia in vitro. Cerebral slices from the P-3 rat pups were allowed to equilibrate and recover in artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) continuously bubbled with a mixture of 95% O2 and 5% CO2 for 1 h before beginning hypoxic exposures. Higher basal ODC activities were obtained by treating the slices with 0.03% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 0.003% bovine serum albumin (BSA), rather than with ACSF alone. Hypoxia was induced in the slices by replacing the gas with 40%, 21%, 10%, or 5% O2, all with 5% CO2 and balance N2. With FBS and BSA treatment, ODC activity was maintained at about 0.15-0.11 nM CO2 mg-1 protein h-1 throughout the experiment, which was 2-3-fold higher than that without FBS and BSA. ODC activity increased significantly and peaked between 1 h and 2 h after initiation of hypoxia. For instance, with 21% O2, ODC activity increased approximately 1.5-fold at 1 h and approximately 2-fold at 2 h. These studies demonstrate that: (1) the hypoxic-induced increases observed in vivo in the fetal and newborn rat brain ODC activity can be approximated in a newborn rat brain slice preparation in vitro; (2) newborn rat brain slice preparations may provide an alternative to methods in vivo or cell culture methods for studying the regulation of acute hypoxic-induced enzymes; and (3) high, stable baseline ODC activities in brain slices suggest that the cells in the slice are capable of active metabolism if FBS and BSA are available to mimic conditions in vivo.