Abstract
In pineal gland, melatonin is synthesized in pinealocytes. Pharmacological studies using calmodulin antagonists suggested that melatonin synthesis was regulated through calmodulin. However, immunohistochemical studies showed that calmodulin could only be detected in pineal glial cells, and not in pinealocytes. To further investigate this discrepancy, we have tried to detect calmodulin not seen by immunohistochemical methods. We have used rat and chicken pineal homogenate supernatants and Triton X-100-treated pellets denatured by sodium dodecyl sulfate, subjected to electrophoresis and immunoblotting using anti-calmodulin antibodies. Two different IgG (#465 and #860) purified from anti-calmodulin sera were used. In rat pineal homogenate supernatants, calmodulin could be detected by immunoblotting using both antibodies. Some calmodulin could also be detected in the Triton-treated pellet fractions, but no additional cross-reacting bands were detected. However, in both chicken pineal homogenate supernatants and Triton-extracted pellets, in addition to a calmodulin immunoreactive band, two other proteins with approximate molecular masses (Mr) of 56 kDa and 60 kDa were detected using anti-calmodulin #465. For comparison, similar immunoblot experiments were performed for detection of calbindin-D28K and calretinin, two other calcium binding proteins expressed in different pineal cell populations. Interestingly, Triton extraction of chicken pineal pellets revealed additional bands cross-reacting with each antibody. Anti-calbindin-D28K cross-reacted strongly with a Mr = 68 kDa protein and weakly with a Mr = 56 kDa protein. Anti-calretinin cross-reacted strongly with a Mr = 93 kDa protein and weakly with a Mr = 56 kDa protein.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 318-324 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular Cell Research |
Volume | 1223 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 29 1994 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank Leon Surardt for excellent technical assistance and Paulette Miroir for typing the manuscript. This work was supported by FRSM (grant no. 3.4517. 92).
Funding
We thank Leon Surardt for excellent technical assistance and Paulette Miroir for typing the manuscript. This work was supported by FRSM (grant no. 3.4517. 92).
Funders | Funder number |
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FRSM | 3.4517 |
Keywords
- Calcium
- Calcium binding protein
- Glial cell
- Pinealocyte
- Western blot
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology