Different expression patterns of CK2 subunits in the brains of experimental animals and patients with transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.
To address the possible alteration of casein kinase 2 (CK2) in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), the levels and patterns of CK2 in the brain tissues of hamsters or C57BL mice inoculated intracerebrally with scrapie agents 263K or 139A were evaluated by Western blots, followed by quantitative analysis. Specific semi-quantitative RT-PCR for evaluating the mRNA transcripts of CK2 subunits was performed in parallel. Compared with normal animals, the levels of CK2alpha and CK2beta in the brains of infected hamsters and mice were significantly decreased, regardless of which scrapie agent was. However, the expression of CK2alpha' or CK2alpha'/CK2alpha'' in the animals infected with agents 263K or 139A was considerably increased. Furthermore, decreases of CK2alpha and CK2beta and increases of CK2alpha'/CK2alpha'' were observed in cerebella homogenates from one familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (fCJD) case and one fatal familial insomnia (FFI) case. These results suggest that alterations of CK2 subunits in brains are illness-correlative phenomena in TSEs and indicate a potential linkage of CK2 changes with the pathogenesis of prion diseases.
Chen
Jian-Ming
JM
State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ying-Xin Rd 100, 100052 Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Gao
Chen
C
Shi
Qi
Q
Shan
Bing
B
Lei
Yan-Jun
YJ
Dong
Chen-Fang
CF
An
Run
R
Wang
Gui-Rong
GR
Zhang
Bao-Yun
BY
Han
Jun
J
Dong
Xiao-Ping
XP
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D047390:Casein Kinase II / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism*; D006224:Cricetinae; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D034062:Insomnia, Fatal Familial / Q000378:metabolism*; D008647:Mesocricetus; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012608:Scrapie / Q000378:metabolism*
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D047390:Casein Kinase II