Correlation between increased levels of serum IL-18 and high frequency of neonatal brain damage

2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 14571593
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Obstetrics and gynecology
• Research Institution: Hyogo College of Medicine
• Principal Investigator: HASHIMOTO-TAMAOKI Tomoko (橋本 知子) Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Professor (10172868)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): TSUJI Yoshiyuki 兵庫医科大学, Faculty of Medicine, Associate Professor (60148658) ; TACHIBANA Hisao 兵庫医科大学, Faculty of Medicine, Professor (80124949) ; OKAMURA Haruki 兵庫医科大学, Faculty of Medicine, Professor (60111043) ; MORINAGA Tomonori 兵庫医科大学, Faculty of Medicine, Research Associate (10351818) ; NAKANO Yoshiro 兵庫医科大学, Faculty of Medicine, Research Associate (30360267)
• Project Period (FY): 2002 – 2003
• Keywords: IL-18 / Neuronal differentiation / Cell damage / Transcription activity / Brain damage / Premature infant

Research Abstract

To clarify the role of the high concentration of IL-18 to develop cerebral palsy in premature infants, we used mouse P19 embryonal carcinoma cells as a model for early neuronal differentiation. During differentiation of P19 cells, increased expression of IL-18mRNA transcribed from the first exon and IL-18 precursor protein was observed. However, exogenous mature IL-18 (active form) showed no effects on cell damage or neuronal differentiation. We then examined whether exogenous mature IL-18 influences human immature endothelial cells. cDNA microarray analysis showed that several genes were up- or down-regulated, suggesting that mature IL-18 may target immature endothelial cells, resulting in severe brain damages.