Visual stimulation-induced phosphorylation of neurofilament-L in the visual cortex of dark-reared rats.
In dark-reared animals, visual exposure is expected to induce drastic changes in both the physiology and anatomy of the cortical neurons, including the rearrangement of their cytoskeletal structures. Phosphorylation of neurofilament-L (NF-L) is probably associated with relatively short-term structural plasticity in vivo, because the assembly and disassembly of the filaments are regulated by phosphorylation of the head domain of NF-L. Thus, by using a series of site- and phosphorylation state-specific antibodies against NF-L, we examined how visual activation induces the phosphorylation of NF-L in the rat brain. We found no specific immunoreactivity for phosphorylated NF-L in the brain of naive rats, whereas one-hour ambient light exposure after dark rearing for ten weeks from birth induced marked phosphorylation of NF-L selectively. Also, the NF-L phosphorylation was found to be localized in the primary and secondary visual cortical areas. These findings suggest that the selective phosphorylation of NF-L plays an important role in the structural plasticity related to the visual experience.
Hashimoto
R
R
Division of Psychiatry and Behavioral Proteomics, Department of Post-Genomics and Diseases, Course of Advanced Medicine, Osaka University, Graduate School of Medicine, Suita-shi, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
Nakamura
Y
Y
Imamura
K
K
Nakadate
K
K
Kashiwagi
Y
Y
Matsumoto
N
N
Takeda
M
M
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity / Q000276:immunology; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D003624:Darkness; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012683:Sensory Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*; D012694:Serine / Q000378:metabolism; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*
D016900:Neurofilament Proteins; C044882:neurofilament protein L; D012694:Serine