Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) promotes survival and differentiation of neural cells in the central and peripheral nervous systems. BDNF has been detected in plasma, but its source has not yet been established. Expression of BDNF mRNA has been identified in the submandibular glands when male rats are exposed to acute immobilization stress. In the present study, we investigated whether plasma BDNF is influenced by the submandibular glands in this model. Acute immobilization stress for 60 min significantly increased the level of plasma BDNF. However, plasma BDNF elevation was markedly suppressed in bilaterally sialoadenectomized rats. There were no significant differences between stressed (60 min) and non-stressed rats with respect to the BDNF mRNA expression in the hippocampus, heart, lung, liver, pancreas, or spleen, as determined by real-time polymerase chain-reaction. These findings suggest that the submandibular glands may be the primary source of plasma BDNF in conditions of acute immobilization stress.

Metastatic bone cancer causes severe pain, but current treatments often provide insufficient pain relief. One of the reasons is that mechanisms underlying bone cancer pain are not solved completely. Our previous studies have shown that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), known as a member of the neurotrophic family, is an important molecule in the pathological pain state in some pain models. We hypothesized that expression changes of BDNF may be one of the factors related to bone cancer pain; in this study, we investigated changes of BDNF expression in dorsal root ganglia in a rat bone cancer pain model. As we expected, BDNF mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) and protein were significantly increased in L3 dorsal root ganglia after intra-tibial inoculation of MRMT-1 rat breast cancer cells. Among the eleven splice-variants of BDNF mRNA, exon 1–9 variant increased predominantly. Interestingly, the up-regulation of BDNF is localized in small neurons (mostly nociceptive neurons) but not in medium or large neurons (non-nociceptive neurons). Further, expression of nerve growth factor (NGF), which is known as a specific promoter of BDNF exon 1–9 variant, was significantly increased in tibial bone marrow. Our findings suggest that BDNF is a key molecule in bone cancer pain, and NGF-BDNF cascade possibly develops bone cancer pain.

14-3-3 σ has been a major G2/M checkpoint control gene and has demonstrated that its inactivation in various cancers occurs mostly by epigenetic hypermethylation, not by genetic change. This study investigated the methylation status and expression of the 14-3-3 σ gene in 46 oral squamous cell carcinomas by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Exons of the p53 gene were examined for mutations by sequencing analysis and CyclinD1 by immunohistochemistry. Methylation of the 14-3-3 σ gene was detected in 13% (6/46) of the oral tumours, but not in corresponding adjacent non-malignant and normal gingival tissues. Intratumoural heterogeneity was found in the tumour tissues including three 14-3-3 σmethylated samples. Methylation of 14-3-3 σ was detected in 3 SCC with p53 mutations and 3 with wild-type p53. Our major findings are: (a) methylation of 14-3-3 gene promoter is a rare event in oral cancer; (b) it is not always associated with 14-3-3 protein levels and there is no clear relationship between its methylation and p53 mutation; (c) loss of 14-3-3 σ expression is associated with reduced CyclinD1 gene expression.

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Norepinephrine downregulates GLT-1 mRNA expression in astrocytes via the α-adrenoceptor. Our results provide new insight into the mechanisms involved in downregulation of GLT-1 in the chronic pain models.

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