Colocalization of protein kinase C beta-subtype and calcitonin gene-related peptide in rat spinal cord.

Colocalization of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and protein kinase C beta-subtype (PKC-beta) like immunoreactivities (LI) and the subcellular localization of CGRP-LI were studied in the ventral horn of rat spinal cord. Ultrastructurally CGRP-LI was localized on the membranes of the Golgi-complexes, in multivesicular bodies and in vesicles adjacent to the Golgi-complex in motoneuron perikarya. The colocalization of PKC-beta and CGRP-LI was detected in most of the ventral horn motoneurons. However, few motoneurons were only PKC-beta-immunoreactive. These results suggest that PKC-beta may be involved in the regulation of CGRP release from motoric axon terminals.