Biphasic changes in F3/contactin expression in the gerbil hippocampus after transient ischemia

We studied changes in expression of F3/contactin (F3), a neuron-specific adhesion molecule, in the gerbil hippocampus after transient forebrain ischemia for 5 min. By immunohistochemical techniques using F3 antibody, we found a biphasic change in immunoreactivity for F3 in the CA1 area after ischemia. Western blotting of F3 protein showed a similar biphasic change. F3 immunoblots decreased to 67% of the control at 1 week, but then they increased and attained 159% at 3 weeks and 152% at 5 weeks after ischemia. Immunoreactivity of a neurofilament (NF145) showed a similar biphasic change to F3 but to a lesser extent. In contrast, microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) immunoreactivity uniformly decreased after ischemia. In situ hybridization revealed that F3 messenger RNA (mRNA) hybridization signals in CA1 area were greatly reduced 1 week after ischemia, while the signals in the CA3 area were unchanged and even increased 3 weeks after ischemia. Damage to CA3 neurons by hyperthermic ischemia blocked the F3 increase in area CA1. Our results suggest that the initial decrease in F3 following ischemia reflects loss of CA1 neurons and the late increase in F3, which shows that a similar time course with neurofilaments may be caused by neurite sprouting.