Behavior and activities in the central nervous system after activation of L-type calcium channels in mice.

The distribution of the immediate early gene c-fos expression in the mouse central nervous system after subcutaneous injection of Bay K 8644 was observed immunohistochemically. Half an hour after injection, c-fos protein (FOS) was expressed in the piriform cortex, sensorimotor cortex, caudate putamen, thalamic paraventricular nucleus and striate cortex, etc. Intense FOS immunoreactive (FOS-ir) cells were seen during 2-4 h after injection. The results suggested that the distribution of FOS-ir cells after subcutaneous injection of Bay K 8644 was coincident with that of L-type calcium channels in the different areas of the CNS. After Bay K 8644 injection, mice appeared seizure-like behavior. The percentage of cells double-labelled by FOS and CaBP immunoreactivities in the observed regions was about 60.2-72.8% in CaBP-ir cells. It suggested that most CaBP-ir cells may have L-type calcium channels.