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Single-Prolonged Stress Induce Changes of CaM/CaMKIIα in the Rats of Dorsal Raphe Nucleus

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Abstract

Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIα (CaMKIIα) is identified as a Ca2+-dependent kinase in brain involved in the activation of Tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) acting through direct phosphorylation of TPH, and playing key roles in the signaling pathways initiated by various G protein-coupled 5-HT receptors. The goal of this study is to detect whether there are changes of CaM and CaMKIIα in dorsal raphe nucleus in the rats exposed to single-prolonged stress (SPS), which is a model employed in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) study extensively. A total of 90 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into a normal control group and SPS groups of 7d, 14d. The changes of CaM/CaMKIIα were detected by immunohistochemistry, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blot. Our results demonstrate that both expressions of CaM and CaMKIIα significantly increase (P < 0.001) in the SPS 7d group than that in the control group, and then decreased dramatically (P < 0.001) 14 days after SPS. Our results confirm that SPS induce changes of CaM/CaMKIIα in the dorsal raphe nucleus. Changes of CaM/CaMKIIα may be associated with the activation of 5-HT1A receptor, and may contribute to the progress of molecular mechanism of PTSD.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all of the staff members of the China Medical University Experiment Center for their technical support. In addition, this research was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 81171282) and China National Doctoral Fund (no. 20092104110016).

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The authors indicate no potential conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Histology and Embryology, Institute of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Basic Medical Sciences College, China Medical University, 92 North 2nd Road, Shenyang, 110001, Liaoning Province, People’s Republic of China

    Huaju Xie, Fang Han & Xiuyu Shi

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  1. Huaju Xie
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  2. Fang Han
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  3. Xiuyu Shi
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Correspondence to Xiuyu Shi.

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Huaju Xie and Fang Han contributed equally.

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Xie, H., Han, F. & Shi, X. Single-Prolonged Stress Induce Changes of CaM/CaMKIIα in the Rats of Dorsal Raphe Nucleus. Neurochem Res 37, 1043–1049 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-012-0705-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-012-0705-5

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