Metabolic Brain Disease

, Volume 2, Issue 2, pp 117–126 | Cite as

Ca2+ -mediated degradation of central nervous system (CNS) proteins: Topographic and species variation

  • Naren L. Banik
  • Richard D. Happel
  • Mark B. Sostek
  • F. C. Chiu
  • Edward L. Hogan
Original Contributions
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Incubation of homogenates of rat, rabbit, and bovine spinal cord and of bovine brain white and gray matter in the presence of calcium (5 mM) produced an extensive degradation of the neurofilament triplet proteins (NFP; 200 K, 150K, and 69K). The breakdown products of the NFPs were identified by immunoblot. The glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), microtubular proteins (MTP), and myelin proteins were also degraded. The 150 K NFP was more susceptible than the other NFPs. The extent of calcium-mediated degradation was slightly greater with rat spinal cord than the others. Bovine brain white matter had more activity than gray, which had no appreciable degradative activity. The breakdown was prevented by both EGTA and leupeptin but a similar concentration of MgCl2 (5 mM) had no effect. These results suggest that NFPs are degraded by a Ca2+ -activated neutral proteinase in the central nervous system (CNS) of several species. The lesser activity in gray matter suggests that the enzyme is enriched in axons, myelin, and/or oligodendroglial cells.

Key words

calcium Ca2+ -activated neutral proteinase myelin neurofilament proteins myelin basic protein proteolipid protein 
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Copyright information

© Plenum Publishing Corporation 1987

Authors and Affiliations

  • Naren L. Banik
    • 1
  • Richard D. Happel
    • 1
  • Mark B. Sostek
    • 1
  • F. C. Chiu
    • 2
  • Edward L. Hogan
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of NeurologyMedical University of South CarolinaCharleston
  2. 2.Department of NeurologyAlbert Einstein College of MedicineBronx

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