PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Doo-Sup Choi
AU  - Weizheng Wei
AU  - J. Kevin Deitchman
AU  - Viktor N. Kharazia
AU  - Heidi M. B. Lesscher
AU  - Thomas McMahon
AU  - Dan Wang
AU  - Zhan-Heng Qi
AU  - Werner Sieghart
AU  - Chao Zhang
AU  - Kevan M. Shokat
AU  - Istvan Mody
AU  - Robert O. Messing
TI  - Protein Kinase Cδ Regulates Ethanol Intoxication and Enhancement of GABA-Stimulated Tonic Current
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3156-08.2008
DP  - 2008 Nov 12
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 11890--11899
VI  - 28
IP  - 46
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/28/46/11890.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/28/46/11890.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.2008 Nov 12; 28
AB  - Ethanol alters the distribution and abundance of PKCδ in neural cell lines. Here we investigated whether PKCδ also regulates behavioral responses to ethanol. PKCδ−/− mice showed reduced intoxication when administered ethanol and reduced ataxia when administered the nonselective GABAA receptor agonists pentobarbital and pregnanolone. However, their response to flunitrazepam was not altered, suggesting that PKCδ regulates benzodiazepine-insensitive GABAA receptors, most of which contain δ subunits and mediate tonic inhibitory currents in neurons. Indeed, the distribution of PKCδ overlapped with GABAA δ subunits in thalamus and hippocampus, and ethanol failed to enhance tonic GABA currents in PKCδ−/− thalamic and hippocampal neurons. Moreover, using an ATP analog-sensitive PKCδ mutant in mouse L(tk−) fibroblasts that express α4β3δ GABAA receptors, we found that ethanol enhancement of GABA currents was PKCδ-dependent. Thus, PKCδ enhances ethanol intoxication partly through regulation of GABAA receptors that contain δ subunits and mediate tonic inhibitory currents. These findings indicate that PKCδ contributes to a high level of behavioral response to ethanol, which is negatively associated with risk of developing an alcohol use disorder in humans.