Figure 9

Effect of chronic exposure to cocaine on expression of Kalirin protein. A. Striata harvested from Saline and Cocaine treated mice were subjected to subcellular fractionation; equal amounts (10 μg) of input (S1) and PSD were fractionated by SDS-PAGE. Kalirin proteins were visualized using the Kal-spectrin antibody. DARPP32, a soluble protein highly expressed in the striatum, was excluded from the PSD fraction. B. Striata prepared in a similar fraction to A show increases in Kal7 in the S1 and PSD fractions while demonstrating a lack of Kal7 in the Triton soluble fraction as was expected from previous results [17, 18]. C. Levels of Kal7 and Kal9 in SDS lysates prepared from the nucleus accumbens of chronically Saline and Cocaine treated mice were compared to levels of βIII-tubulin; Kal12 levels were not high enough to allow accurate quantification. The Kalirin/Tubulin ratios for Kal7 and Kal9 were calculated for Saline and Cocaine treated mice, with the Saline ratio normalized to 100%; using an unpaired t-Test, Kal7 expression (p < 0.05) differed significantly while Kal9 expression did not.