Aging and infection reduce expression of specific brain-derived neurotrophic factor mRNAs in hippocampus.

Aging increases the likelihood of cognitive decline after negative life events such as infection or injury. We have modeled this increased vulnerability in aged (24-month-old), but otherwise unimpaired F344xBN rats. In these animals, but not in younger (3-month-old) counterparts, a single intraperitoneal injection of E.

Stimulus-specific transcriptional regulation within the p53 network.

The p53 transcriptional network is composed of hundreds of effector genes involved in varied stress-response pathways, including cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. It is not clear how distinct p53 target genes are differentially activated to trigger stress-specific biological responses. We analyzed the p53 transcriptional program upon activation by two DNA-damaging agents, UVC and doxorubicin, versus the non-genotoxic molecule Nutlin-3.

CDK8 is a stimulus-specific positive coregulator of p53 target genes.

The p53 transcriptional network orchestrates alternative stress responses such as cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis. Here we investigate the mechanism of differential expression of p21, a key mediator of p53-dependent cell-cycle arrest. We demonstrate that the transcriptional activity of the p21 promoter varies greatly in response to distinct p53-activating stimuli.