Biochemical changes in sciatic nerve of hens treated with tri-o-cresyl phosphate: increased phosphorylation of cytoskeletal proteins.

Calcium- and calmodulin-regulated protein phosphorylation has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of organophosphorus compound-induced delayed neurotoxicity (OPIDN). This condition is characterized by ataxia that progresses to paralysis concurrent with a central-peripheral distal axonopathy after a delay period of 1-2 weeks following exposure to an organophosphorus compound causing delayed neurotoxicity, such as tri-o-cresyl phosphate (TOCP). Calcium/calmodulin (CaM) kinase II is involved in the increased phosphorylation of brain microtubule and spinal cord neurofilament triplet proteins following treatment of animals with organophosphorus compounds that are capable of producing OPIDN. In this study, chickens were given a single oral neurotoxic dose of 750 mg TOCP/kg body weight and killed after 1, 6, 14 or 21 days following treatment. Protein kinase-mediated phosphorylation of cytoskeletal proteins was studied in proximal and distal parts of sciatic nerves of control and treated hens. Peripheral nerve proteins were phosphorylated in vitro using [gamma-32P]ATP as a phosphoryl group donor. Phosphorylated proteins were separated by one- and two-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Protein phosphorylation was detected by autoradiography and quantified by laser microdensitometry. The extent of Ca2+-calmodulin dependent phosphorylation of five cytoskeletal proteins was significantly increased in TOCP treated animals, particularly at 1 and 6 days after treatment, in both the proximal and distal portion of the nerve. The identity of these proteins was confirmed by 2-D PAGE as tubulin, the neurofilament triplet proteins and microtubule associated protein-2 (MAP-2). These results confirm earlier observation of the close temporal relationship between increased cytoskeletal protein phosphorylation and the development and OPIDN.