Transient increase of lipocortin 1 in nuclei of the hippocampal pyramidal neurons in rats induced by immobilization stress

Changes of lipocortin 1 (LC1) in the brain induced by immobilization stress were investigated in rats. Rats were immobilized for 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 h, and the brain slices were immunostained with anti-human LC1 antibody (anti-LC1). Immunoreactivity of LC1 (iLC1) was most prominent in neuronal cell bodies and processes of hippocampal CA regions and dentate gyrus. At rest without stress, most of the LC1 in the neuron located in the cytoplasm with the nuclei exhibiting relatively scarce immunoreactivity. Immobilization stress changed this intracellular distribution of LC1 by increasing nuclear LC1, The change was apparent in 1 h and reached the peak by 3 h. However, by 5 h of immobilization, the distribution pattern returned to that of the resting state. This transient nuclear translocation of LC1 was most prominent in CA(1) pyramidal neurons, and was not observed in areas other than the hippocampus. Adrenalectomy abolished this transient translocation of LC1. The roles of hippocampal LC1 as a mediator of glucocorticoid feedback signal and/or as an intracellular stress signaling protein could be suggested.