Cell death, glial protein alterations and elevated S-100β release in cerebellar cell cultures following mechanically induced trauma

Recent studies in vivo have shown that cells of the cerebellum, and particularly Purkinje neurons (PNs), are susceptible to damage following traumatic brain injury (TBI). To investigate more closely the effects of TBI at the cellular level, we subjected cerebellar cell cultures to injury using an in vitro model of stretch-induced mechanical trauma and found increased cell damage and neuronal loss with increasing levels of injury and time post-injury. The release of neuron-specific enolase and S-100β were also elevated after injury. Compared to our previous findings in hippocampal cells, S-100β levels were much higher in cerebellar cultures after injury, suggesting that cells from different brain regions show variable responses to mechanical trauma. Lastly, the addition of exogenous S-100β to uninjured cerebellar cells caused no overt change in cell viability or overall neuronal number; there were, however, fewer calbindin-positive PNs, similar to findings after stretch injury.