Chunk #19 — Results — Kal7 is expressed in the major neuronal cell types in nucleus accumbens and dorsal striatum — Kal7 is the major Kalirin protein in the dorsal striatum and nucleus accumbens
Western blot analysis was used to compare expression of the major Kalirin isoforms in adult mouse cortex, where its role in spine formation has been studied [17,29,30,32,37-39] to dorsal striatum and nucleus accumbens (ventral striatum), the brain regions affected most dramatically by cocaine [12,35,40-47]. Using an antibody specific for spectrin repeats 4-7 of Kalirin (Kal-Spec Ab), cross-reactive proteins the size of Kal12 (337 kDa), Kal9 (271 kDa), Kal7 (190 kDa) and ΔKal7 (117 kDa) were detected (Figure 5, top left). Higher levels of Kal12, Kal7 and ΔKal7 were present in cortex than in dorsal or ventral striatum. In contrast, levels of βIII tubulin were similar in all three brain regions.
