Kindling induced changes in calmodulin kinase II immunoreactivity.

The distribution of type II calmodulin kinase (CaM kinase) immunoreactivity was studied in control and septally kindled rat brains. CaM kinase was concentrated in limbic structures, such as the hippocampus, lateral septum and amygdala. Within the hippocampus, the molecular layer of the endal limb of the dentate gyrus, the stratum radiatum, and lacunosum moleculare of CA1 were the most heavily stained regions. The cerebellum was stained only in the molecular and Purkinje cell layers, and very low amounts of immunoreactive protein were present in the brainstem and white matter. Kindling resulted in a significant decrease in CaM kinase immunoreactivity in CA3 and in the dentate of the ventral hippocampus but not in the lateral septum. These data suggest that kindling decreases the number of CaM kinase molecules or alters its antigenic distribution, and provides further evidence that alterations of this enzyme may be important in the kindling phenomenon.