Neuronal and inducible nitric oxide synthase upregulation in the rat medial prefrontal cortex following acute restraint stress: A dataset

Abstract

This data article provides additional evidence on gene expression changes in the neuronal and inducible isoforms of nitric oxide synthase in the medial prefrontal cortex following acute stress. Male Wistar rats aged 6–8 weeks were exposed to control or restraint stress conditions for up to four hours in the dark cycle after which the brain was removed and the medial prefrontal cortex isolated by cryodissection. Following RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, gene expression data were measured using quantitative real-time PCR. The mRNA levels of the neuronal and inducible nitric oxide synthase isoforms, and the inhibitory subunit of NF-κB, I kappa B alpha were determined using the ΔΔCT method relative to control animals. This data article presents complementary results related to the research article entitled ‘Acute restraint stress induces specific changes in nitric oxide production and inflammatory markers in the rat hippocampus and striatum’ [1]. Keywords: Medial prefrontal cortex, Nitric oxide synthase, Stress