title: Toluene treatment in vitro and calcium-regulated protein phosphorylation in primary astroglial cell cultures from the rat striatum.
abstract: Primary astroglial cell cultures from striata of newborn rats were exposed to toluene in vitro at doses of between 4.7 and 150 μmol/ml. The protein content of the cell cultures, about 1 mg/ml, was not affected by the toluene treatment. Calcium-induced back-phosphorylation was used to detect changes in the phosphorylation state of calcium-regulated glial phosphoproteins. The 11 most back-phosphorylated protein bands were separated by gel electrophoresis and analysed by autoradiography and computer-assisted image analysis. The back-phosphorylation of the 59-kD protein band was increased by 150% at 9.4 μmol/ml toluene, but no further increase was observed with increasing concentrations. This increase is believed to correspond to a toluene-induced decrease in calcium-regulated protein phosphorylation. Furthermore, there was a trend for decreased back-phosphorylation of the 140-kD band and for increased back-phosphorylation of the 110-kD band in response to the higher concentrations of toluene used. The back-phosphorylation of the 42-, 44-, 48-, 51-, 54-, 63-, 74- and >200-kD protein bands showed no dose-related changes in response to the toluene treatment. Taken together, the data indicate that the 59-kD protein in astrocytes from the rat striatum is specifically sensitive to toluene treatment in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Neurobiology, Karolinska Institute, Box 60400, S-10401 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: von Euler
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hansson
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fuxe