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Early postnatal undernutrition impairs protein kinase C-dependent phosphorylation in rat brain synaptosomes
S Chakrabarti1, B Sonaye, P P Nadkarni
1Department of Biochemistry, Goa Medical College, Bambolim, India.
Insights
Undernutrition impairs protein kinase C-dependent phosphorylation in young rats. This key signaling pathway, crucial for brain development, showed significantly reduced activity in undernourished pups compared to controls.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Biochemistry
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Undernutrition during early development can have lasting impacts on physiological processes.
- Protein kinase C (PKC) is involved in crucial cellular signaling pathways.
- Mitochondrial-synaptosomal membranes are key sites for neurotransmitter signaling and energy metabolism.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of early-life undernutrition on PKC-dependent protein phosphorylation.
- To examine age-dependent changes in PKC signaling in control and undernourished rat pups.
- To identify specific proteins affected by PKC dysregulation due to malnutrition.
Main Methods:
- Establishing undernutrition in rat pups by restricting daily feeding time.
- Preparing mitochondrial-synaptosomal membrane fractions from control and undernourished rats (adult and 18-day-old).
- Assessing in vitro protein phosphorylation using gamma-[32P]ATP, Ca2+, and phosphatidylserine to activate PKC.
Main Results:
- Control rats (adult and 18-day-old) exhibited Ca2+/phosphatidylserine-activated phosphorylation of three major proteins (49, 53, 84 kDa).
- Undernourished 18-day-old rats showed significantly impaired Ca2+/phosphatidylserine-activated phosphorylation.
- A slight increase in labeling was observed only in the 49 kDa protein in undernourished rats.
Conclusions:
- Early-life undernutrition significantly disrupts PKC-dependent protein phosphorylation in developing rat brains.
- The impairment in PKC signaling may contribute to long-term neurological deficits associated with malnutrition.
- Specific protein targets of PKC are differentially affected by nutritional status during critical developmental periods.
Abstract:
Undernutrition in rat pups was established by restricting feeding time daily. Protein kinase C-dependent phosphorylation in vitro was studied by incubating the mitochondrial-synaptosomal membrane fractions from adult, 18-day-old control and undernourished rats with gamma-[32P]ATP in presence of Ca2+ and phosphatidylserine. In adult and 18-day-old control rats, an increased phosphorylation of three major proteins (49, 53, 84 kDa) were detected in presence of calcium and phosphatidylserine. However, in 18-day-old undernourished rats, calcium/phosphatidylserine activated phosphorylation was found to be significantly impaired with only a slightly increased labelling detected in the 49 kDa protein.