Immunohistochemical localization of creatine kinase BB-isoenzyme and tubulin in gerbil brain.

Cellular distribution of creatine kinase BB-isoenzyme and tubulin was investigated immunohistochemically with tissue sections from various areas of the gerbil brain. Both the reaction for creatine kinase BB-isoenzyme and tubulin visualized nerve cell bodies, dendrites and axons. While the reaction for tubulin was similar between nerve cell bodies and their dendrites, the reaction for creatine kinase BB-isoenzyme tended to be more intense in dendrites. While the reaction for tubulin could be seen in nerve cell bodies of different sizes, the reaction for creatine kinase BB-isoenzyme was more intense in larger neurons. Both the reaction for creatine kinase BB-isoenzyme and tubulin visualized astrocytic cytoplasm but only in the corpus callosum and in the white matter of limited areas. Visualization of dendrites to their peripheries with the reaction for creatine kinase BB-isoenzyme may indicate participation of this isoenzyme in maintainance of high energy-phosphates locally within dendrites. A combination of the immunohistochemical procedure for creatine kinase BB-isoenzyme and tubulin may be very useful for demonstration of various pathophysiological states of the central nervous system which affect dendrites.