Localization of the transcriptional coactivator PGC‐1α to GABAergic neurons during maturation of the rat brain

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Abstract
The transcriptional coactivator peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) can activate a number of transcription factors to regulate mitochondrial biogenesis and cell-specific responses to cold, fasting, and exercise. Recent studies indicate that PGC-1α knockout mice exhibit behavioral abnormalities and progressive vacuolization in various brain regions. To investigate the roles for PGC-1α in the nervous system, we evaluated the temporal and cell-specific expression of PGC-1α in the normal developing rat brain. Western blot of whole brain homogenates with a PGC-1α-specific antibody revealed that PGC-1α protein was most abundant in the embryonic and early postnatal forebrain and cerebellum. Using quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), we determined that PGC-1α mRNA expression increased most markedly between postnatal days 3 (P3) and 14 in the cortex, striatum, and hippocampus. Immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence analyses of brain tissue indicated that while PGC-1α was found in most neuronal populations from embryonic day 15 to P3, it was specifically concentrated in GABAergic populations from P3 to adulthood. Interestingly, PGC-1α colocalized with the developmentally regulated chemoattractant reelin in the cortex and hippocampus, and the survival-promoting transcription factor myocyte enhancing factor 2 was highly concentrated in GABAergic populations in the striatum and cerebellum at times of PGC-1α expression. These results implicate PGC-1α as a regulator of metabolism and/or survival in GABAergic neurons during a phase of mitochondrial and synaptic changes in the developing brain and suggest that PGC-1α may be a good target for increasing metabolism in GABAergic populations in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. J. Comp. Neurol. 502:1–18, 2007.

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