Distribution of Fos- and Jun-related proteins and activator protein-1 composite factors in mouse brain induced by neuroleptics

The mechanisms by which the direct actions of neuroleptics are translated into therapeutic effects are unknown. We immunocytochemically investigated the expression of Fos- and Jun-related proteins and examined activator protein-1 DNA-binding activity in ddY mouse brain 120 min after the administration of haloperidol (1 mg/kg), (-)-sulpiride (20 mg/kg) and a selective dopamine D1 receptor antagonist, SCH23390 (1 mg/kg). The densities of Fos-, FosB-, Fra-1-, Jun- and JunD-immunoreactive nuclei induced by haloperidol and sulpiride in the hippocampus, piriform cortex and accumbens nucleus were higher than those in the control groups. The same regions showed higher densities of FosB-, Fra-1- and JunD-immunoreactive nuclei induced by SCH23390 compared with the control groups. We investigated further the activator protein-1 composite factors using super gel shift assays. These results suggested that induced Fos, FosB, Fra-1, Jun and JunD proteins constitute the activator protein-1 complex after the administration of haloperidol and sulpiride. In contrast, FosB, Fra-1 and JunD appear to constitute the activator protein-1 complex after the administration of SCH23390. Therefore, the diversity of activator protein-1 composite factors suggests that various kinds of gene are induced to act by some neuroleptics.

Characterization of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II from smooth muscle

We have characterized chicken gizzard smooth muscle Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM-PKII) with particular focus on its autophosphorylation. The autophosphorylation of smooth muscle CaMPKII produced a partially constitutively active enzyme, as occurs with the alpha- and beta-isoforms of this enzyme, but the autophosphorylation kinetics were significantly slower. Phosphorylation during the initial rapid phase coincided with the production of constitutively active enzyme. The phosphorylation was on both serine and threonine residues, which is distinct from the brain enzyme where threonine phosphorylation is much faster and more prevalent than serine phosphorylation. The major autophosphorylation sites identified were different from the known autophosphorylation sites of the alpha- and beta-isoforms. During the initial autophosphorylation phase Ser-319, Ser-352 and a Thr residue within residues 345-368 were found to be phosphorylated. During the subsequent gradual phase two serine residues in the variable region and Ser-280 were phosphorylated, but Thr-286 and Thr-305, which are the known major autophosphorylation sites for the alpha- and beta-isoforms, were not detected as the major autophosphorylation sites of smooth muscle CaMPKII. By comparing the phosphopeptide sequence with the known sequences of various isoforms, we concluded that isoform gamma-b, which contains a unique insertion and two deletions at the C-terminal side of the calmodulin binding domain, is the dominant CaMPKII isoform in smooth muscle. The molecular mass of smooth muscle CaMPKII was estimated to be 240 kDa which would comprise four subunits, fewer than in the alpha- and beta-isoforms. The results show that smooth muscle CaMPKII is functionally distinct from the alpha- and beta-isoforms of this enzyme, which might be crucial for its physiological relevance.

Some properties of protein in synaptosomal fractions from El mouse cerebral cortices

Synaptosomal and TCA insoluble proteins were prepared from the cerebral cortices of El(+) during the interictal periods, El(0) which did not stimulate and convulse at all, the seizure-nonsusceptible ddY mice. Both the proteins analyzed by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis indicated 5 major bands and 20-30 minor bands. In the major bands, 67K protein of the synaptosomal and TCA insoluble proteins in the El(+) mice was significantly lower than those of the ddY or El(0) mice and of the ddY mice, respectively.