Evidence of cell cycle re-entry in post-mitotic, terminally differentiated feline neurons

Parvovirus infections in dogs and cats are restricted to highly mitotically active tissues, predominantly to the epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract and, in cases of prenatal infections in cats, also to Purkinje cell neuroblasts. The evidence of parvovirus-infected mature feline neurons gave rise to reconsider the dogma of post-mitotically fixed and terminally differentiated neurons in the adult central nervous system. To elucidate the postulated capability of certain terminally differentiated feline neurons to re-enter the cell cycle, immunohistochemical double labeling using the transcription factor Sox2 and the tumor suppressor and cell cycle regulator retinoblastoma protein in its phosphorylated state (pRb) was performed. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded brain tissue negative for parvovirus-antigen from 14 cats was compared to brain tissue from 13 cats with immunohistochemically confirmed cerebral parvovirus infection; the 27 cats were aged between 50 days of gestation (E50) and 5 years. Both groups revealed nuclear Sox2 and pRb immunosignals in numerous neurons, suggesting a more active state than mature neurons should have. Accordingly, parvovirus is not exclusively involved in the reactivation of the cell cycle machinery in those post-mitotic, terminally differentiated feline neurons.