Pentylenetetrazole-induced chemoshock affects protein kinase C and substrate proteins in mouse brain.

Protein kinase C (PKC) activity, western blot analysis of PKC alpha, beta, gamma, epsilon, and zeta by isozyme-specific antibodies, and in vitro phosphorylation of endogenous substrate proteins were studied in the mice brain after pentylenetetrazole-induced chemoshock. The PKC isozymes and endogenous substrates in the crude cytosolic and membrane fractions were partially purified by DE-52 columns eluted with buffer A containing 100 or 200 mM KCl. This method consistently separates cytosolic and membrane proteins and various PKC isoforms. The 100 mM KCl eluates from DE-52 columns contain more PKC alpha and beta in both cytosol and membrane than the 200 mM KCl eluates, whereas PKC gamma, epsilon, and zeta appear in equal amounts in these two eluates. The kinase activity assayed by phosphorylation of exogenous histone was increased in the chemoshocked mice in both the cytosol and membrane of 200 mM KCl eluates. In further analysis by immunoblotting, this increased activity was found to be due to the increase in content of PKC gamma isozyme. As for novel-type epsilon and zeta isozymes, they were not altered in the chemoshocked mice. From autoradiography, the endogenous substrate 17-kDa neurogranin, which was shown below 21 kDa, was mostly eluted by 100 mM KCl from the DE-52 column, whereas 43-kDa neuromodulin, which was also demonstrated in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis, only appeared in the 200 mM KCl eluates. The in vitro phosphorylation of neuromodulin was found to be increased in the chemoshocked mice. Therefore, the increased phosphorylation of neuromodulin and increased content of the PKC gamma isoform were involved in the pentylenetetrazole-induced chemoshock.