Evidence for colocalization of calcineurin and calcium channels in dorsal root ganglion neurons.

Calcineurin is a serine/threonine protein phosphatase 2B widely distributed in the brain. However, its role in brain function remains unknown. Recent data indicate that calcineurin can participate in long-term depression or long-term potentiation in rat hippocampus. Obviously, calcineurin can also be involved in numerous brain diseases, such as ischaemic hippocampal damage when the protein dephosphorylation system is markedly altered and hyperphosphorylation of the microtubule system in Alzheimer's disease. Besides, abnormal phosphorylation of the cytoskeletal proteins affecting the synaptic signalling can lead to different pathological disorders in the brain. In this study we analysed in more detail the localization of calcineurin in neuronal elements by using confocal microscopy and immunocytochemical approaches to record the enzyme expression in cultured rat dorsal root ganglion neurons. This is the first report showing that calcineurin immunoreactivity is highly expressed in dorsal root ganglion neurons and it is localized mainly near the inner surface of the plasma membrane. Immunostaining of these cells by anti-beta subunits of voltage-operated Ca2+ channels showed that distribution of calcium channel beta-subunit and calcineurin is very similar. Our findings confirm that the function of calcineurin can be directly connected with the activity of voltage-operated calcium channels.