title: Increased expression of CaM kinase II alpha in the brains of scrapie-infected mice.
abstract: We investigated the distribution of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II) in the brains of mice infected with ME7 scrapie strain. CaM kinase II is an enzyme that plays a major role in the regulation of long-term potentiation, a form of synaptic plasticity associated with learning and memory. Immunoreactivity of CaM kinase II alpha, measured by Western blot, increased markedly in scrapie-infected brains compared with control brains. Immunohistochemically, CaM kinase II alpha immunoreactivity was upregulated in the cerebral cortex and hippocampal CA1 area of scrapie-positive mice infected with ME7 scrapie strain. This result implies that this enzyme is associated with aberrant function of synaptic transmission and LTP of the pyramidal neurons in the hippocampal CA1 area of mice infected with ME7 scrapie strain.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environment & Life Science, Hallym Academy of Sciences, Hallym University, Chunchon, South Korea.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: R I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Carp
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000201:enzymology*; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012608:Scrapie / Q000201:enzymology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; C517671:Camk2a protein, mouse