Diabetes induces changes in kinesin KIF1A in the hippocampus.

<p>(A) Diabetes upregulates KIF1A mRNA expression, as assessed by RT-qPCR. The results are expressed relatively to age-matched controls, and data are presented as mean ± SEM of 5 animals. *p<0.5; ***p<0.001 compared to age-matched control analyzed by the unpaired Students <i>t</i>-test. (B) KIF1A protein levels were analyzed by immunoblotting in total extracts of hippocampus isolated from control and STZ-induced diabetic animals (2 and 8 weeks of diabetes). Representative Western blots are presented above the graphs, with the respective loading controls (β-III tubulin), to confirm that identical amounts of protein from control and diabetic samples were loaded into the gel. The results are expressed as percentage of age-matched controls, and data are presented as mean ± SEM of 4–5 animals. **p<0.01 compared to age-matched control using Student’s <i>t</i>-test. (C) The distribution of KIF1A protein in hippocampal subregions of control and STZ-induced diabetic animals was also analyzed by immunohistochemistry. KIF1A immunoreactivity increased at 8 weeks of diabetes. The preparations were visualized under a laser scanning confocal microscope LSM 710 META (Zeiss, Germany). Scale bar: 50 µm. Insets shows the expression pattern of KIF1A in hippocampal slices. The quantification of immunoreactivity (fluorescence intensity arbitrary units) was performed and presented below the images. **p<0.01, ***p<0.01, significantly different from control as determined by the unpaired Student’s <i>t</i>-test.