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Concentrated expression of Ca 2+ /calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II and protein kinase C in the mushroom bodies of the brain of the honeybee Apis mellifera L.
Author(s) -
Kamikouchi Azusa,
Takeuchi Hideaki,
Sawata Miyuki,
Natori Shunji,
Kubo Takeo
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9861(20000221)417:4<501::aid-cne8>3.0.co;2-4
Subject(s) - mushroom bodies , biology , protein kinase c , signal transduction , gene , calmodulin , protein kinase a , microbiology and biotechnology , gene expression , kinase , complementary dna , biochemistry , enzyme , drosophila melanogaster
We have previously used the differential display method to identify a gene that is expressed preferentially in the mushroom bodies of worker honeybees and to show that it encodes a putative inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate receptor (IP 3 R) homologue (Kamikouchi et al. [1998] Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 242:181–186). In the present study, we examined whether the expression of some of the genes for proteins involved in the intracellular Ca 2+ signal transduction is also concentrated in the mushroom bodies of the honeybee by isolating cDNA fragments that encode the Ca 2+ /calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and protein kinase C (PKC) homologues of the honeybee. In situ hybridization analysis revealed that the expression of these genes was also concentrated in the mushroom bodies of the honeybee brain: The CaMKII gene was expressed preferentially in the large‐type Kenyon cells of the mushroom bodies, whereas that for PKC was expressed in both the large and small types of Kenyon cells. The expression of the genes for IP 3 R and CaMKII was concentrated in the mushroom bodies of the queen and drone as well as in those of the worker bee. Furthermore, the enzymatic activities of CaMKII and PKC were found to be higher in the mushroom bodies/central bodies than in the optic and antennal lobes of the worker bee brain. These results suggest that the function of the intracellular Ca 2+ signal transduction is enhanced in Kenyon cells in comparison to other neuronal cell types in the honeybee brain. J. Comp. Neurol. 417:501–510, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.