Temporal changes in mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and phosphorylated-mTOR expressions in the hippocampal CA1 region of rat with vascular dementia

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) has an important role in various biological processes in cells. In the present study, we investigated temporal changes in mTOR and phosphorylated-mTOR (p-mTOR) expressions in the rat hippocampal CA1 region following chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) induced by permanent bilateral common carotid arteries occlusion (2VO). The mTOR immunoreactivity in the pyramidal neurons and mTOR protein level in the hippocampal CA1 region were markedly decreased at 21 and 28 days after 2VO surgery. However, p-mTOR protein expression was significantly increased at 7 days following CCH but then decreased with time. The results indicate that mTOR and p-mTOR expressions change in the hippocampal CA1 region after 2VO surgery and that reduced expressions of mTOR and p-mTOR may be closely related to the CCH-induced neuronal damage in the hippocampal CA1 region.