The temporal and spatial changes of actin cytoskeleton in the hippocampal CA1 neurons following transient global ischemia

Transient global ischemia usually results in delayed neuronal death in selective brain regions,prior to which a rapid loss of dendritic spines has been widely reported in these regions.Dendritic spines are characterized by a highly branched meshwork of actin cytoskeleton(F-actin),which is extremely vulnerable to the ATP-depleted conditions such as hypoxia/ischemia.However,the ischemia-induced changes of F-actin are still not clarified in the vulnerable brain areas.This study was designed to examine the temporal and spatial alterations of F-actin in the CA1 subfield of rat hippocampus following reperfusion after global cerebral ischemia.