Transcriptional regulation of caspases in experimental pneumococcal meningitis.

Apoptosis and necrosis in brain account for neurological sequelae in survivors of bacterial meningitis. In meningitis, several mechanisms may trigger death pathways leading to activation of transcription factors regulating caspases mRNA synthesis. Therefore, we used a multiprobe RNA protection assay (RPA) to examine the expression of 9 caspase-mRNA in the course of experimental Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis in mouse brain.

Organotypic hippocampal cultures. A model of brain tissue damage in Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis.

Hippocampal slices of newborn rats were exposed to either heat-inactivated Streptococcus pneumoniae R6 (hiR6) equivalent to 10(6) and 10(8) CFU/ml, lipoteichoic acid (LTA) (0.3 microg/ml and 30 microg/ml), peptidoglycans (PG) (0.3, 30, 50 and 100 microg/ml), pneumococcal DNA (pDNA) (0.