Effect of protein kinase A on apoptosis of cultured neurons after hypoxia

Objective To investigate the relationship between the protein kinase A (PKA) and apoptosis of cultured neurons after hypoxia Methods Model of cultured rat neuron under hypoxia condition was established. Rp cAMP, a specific inhibitor for PKC, at 4 different concentrations were separately cocultured for 2 h with the neurons having been cultivated under hypoxic condition for different times The activity of PKA, the expression of caspase 3 and the situation of neuron apoptosis were studied Results With the prolonging of hypoxic time the activity of PKA was increased significantly And the expression of activated caspase 3 and apoptotic DNA were increased as well The positive rate of fluorescence staining and the average fluorescent intensity of caspase 3 and TUNEL were significantly decreased along with the increasing concentration of Rp cAMP Conclusion ① PKA and caspase 3 are involved in the neuronal apoptosis after hypoxia ② Rp cAMP can attenuate the hypoxic neuronal apoptosis through the signal transduction of caspase 3 ③ The activating of PKA can aggravate hypoxic neuron apoptosis