EtOH exposure caused a significant shift in Mcl-1L and Mcl-1S ratio by favoring Mcl-1S alternative splicing over Mcl-1L in hNSPs, hNPCs, and immature neurons with no significant alteration in mature neurons in cultures. Moreover, dose response effects of EtOH on alternative splicing of Mcl-1 pre-mRNA were also analyzed by real-time qRT-PCR in neural progenitors. hNPCs were exposed to EtOH at 0, 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 mM concentrations and total RNA extracts were processed by real-time qRT-PCR at 24 h post exposure for the selective and quantitative analysis of Mcl-1L and Mcl-1S isoforms. As shown in Fig. 5h, EtOH caused a significant decrease in Mcl-1L / Mcl-1S ratio at 25 mM and 50 mM concentrations in a dose dependent manner.
