Insulin Stimulates Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Activity in Rat Neuronal Primary Cultures

Abstract: The effect of cortical spreading depression (CSD) on cerebral protein synthesis (CPS) was examined. CSD was evoked in normal rats with KCI, and CPS was measured autoradiographically with 1-¹⁴C]leucine. Average rates (mean ± SD) of CPS in layers I-IV of cortex decreased significantly from 10.7 ± 0.6 (sham-operated controls; n = 4) to 6.7 ± 0.7 nmol/g/min (n = 4; p < 0.01) and in layers V-VI from 10.9 ± 0.5 to 9.4 ± 0.4 nmol/g/min (p < 0.05) during 60 min of repetitive CSD. Spreading depression did not affect CPS rates in other subcortical brain regions. These results indicate that KCl-evoked CSD induces inhibition but not suppression of cortical protein synthesis.