Human lactoferrin enhances the expression of transcription factor c-Fos in neuronal cultures under stimulated conditions

Abstract

The aims of this research were 1) to study the effect of human lactoferrin (Lf) on the expression of the c-Fos transcription factor in primary neuronal cultures after physiological stimulation; 2) to determine the cellular localization of human Lf and possible colocalization of an exogenous protein with induced c-Fos expression.
Methods. Primary dissociated cell cultures were obtained from the hippocampus of newborn C57Bl/6 mice (P0-P1). The expression of c-Fos was induced by addition of 50 mM KCl to the culture medium at 8 day in vitro. c-Fos content was analyzed by immunofluorescence 2 hrs after stimulation.
Results. Lf was detected in cytoplasm and in nuclei after stimulation KCl. Lf inclusion and c-Fos expression were colocalized in the nuclei of some cells. Thus, results showed that pretreatment with Lf led to increase in the number of cells expressing c-Fos after exposure to 50 mM KCl.