Anatomy & Cell Biology  2010;43(1):64-71

doi:10.5115/acb.2010.43.1.64

Immunohistochemical study on the expression of calcium binding proteins (calbindin-D28k, calretinin, and parvalbumin) in the cerebellum of the nNOS knock-out(-/-) mice.

Jae Chul LEE 1 ; Yoon Hee CHUNG ; Yu Jin CHO ; Jandi KIM ; Nahee KIM ; Choong Ik CHA ; Kyeung Min JOO

Affiliations

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Keywords

Calbindin-D28k; calretinin; parvalbumin; cerebellum; neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) knock-out (-/-) mice

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

English

Abstract

Nitric Oxide (NO) actively participates in the regulation of neuronal intracellular Ca2+ levels by modulating the activity of various channels and receptors. To test the possibility that modulation of Ca2+ buffer protein expression level by NO participates in this regulatory effect, we examined expression of calbindin-D28k, calretinin, and parvalbumin in the cerebellum of neuronal NO synthase knock-out (nNOS(-/-)) mice using immunohistochemistry. We observed that in the cerebellar cortex of the nNOS(-/-) mice, expression of calbindin-D28k and parvalbumin were significantly increased while expression of calretinin was significantly decreased. These results suggest another mechanism by which NO can participate in the regulation of Ca2+ homeostasis.