Volume 17, Number 24,
Issue of December 15, 1997
pp. 9596-9604
Experience-Dependent Modifications in MAP2 Phosphorylation in Rat
Olfactory Bulb
Received June 18, 1997; revised Sept. 18, 1997; accepted Sept. 25, 1997.
Benjamin D. Philpot1,
Jae H. Lim1,
Shelley Halpain2, and
Peter C. Brunjes1
1 University of Virginia, Department of Psychology,
Charlottesville, Virginia 22903, and 2 The Scripps Research
Institute, Department of Cell Biology, La Jolla, California 92037
Microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) is a neuron-specific
cytoskeletal protein, enriched in dendrites and cell bodies, that helps
determine dendritic shape. MAP2 regulates microtubule stability in a
phosphorylation-dependent manner. The present study used
immunocytochemistry with phosphoepitope-specific and phosphorylation state-independent antibodies to examine experience-dependent changes in
MAP2 expression during postnatal development of the olfactory bulb. Our
results demonstrate that immunoreactivity reflecting total MAP2
expression reaches a maximal level by postnatal day 20 (P20). The
degree of staining for phosphoindependent forms of MAP2 is relatively
unaffected by blocking odorant passage to one half the nasal epithelium
via unilateral naris closure, a manipulation that attenuates
physiological activity in the bulb. However, olfactory restriction from
P1 dramatically reduces immunoreactivity for antibody AP18, which
recognizes MAP2 only when phosphorylated on Ser136.
Quantification of staining in the granule cell layer indicates that the
greatest difference (64%) between control and experimental bulbs
occurs after occlusion from P1 to P30 compared with animals deprived
from P1 to P10 or P1 to P20. The shift in MAP2 phosphorylation occurs
even when deprivation is delayed until P30, after the sensitive period
for experience-dependent changes in bulb volume. Thus, the degree of
the phosphorylation shift depends on the duration but not the time of
onset of naris closure.
Because staining for phosphorylation-independent forms of MAP2 is
unchanged by naris closure, the total amount of the protein per unit
area is probably not significantly altered. However, the large
reductions of AP18-immunoreactivity in the bulb after olfactory
restriction suggest that there is an activity-dependent stimulation of
MAP2 phosphorylation.
Key words:
activity-dependent;
AP18;
calcineurin;
dendrite;
HM-2;
microtubule;
naris closure;
sensory deprivation;
synaptic
plasticity