Expression of Calcium / calmodulin-dependent kinaseII in the hippocampus of Alzheimer's disease-like rats and its relationship with cell apoptosis

Objective To investigate the expression of Calcium /calmodulin-dependent kinaseⅡ( CaMKⅡ) in the hippocampus and its relationship to the apoptosis of hippocampal neurons in Alzheimer's disease( AD)-like rats. Methods The healthy aged male SD rats were randomly divided into three groups: normal control group,model control group and AD-like model group,with 20 rats in each group. Aβ1-40 and AlCl 3 were used to establish AD-like rat model. Apoptosis of neurons in the three regions of hippocampus of each group were observed by TUNEL staining and the expressions of CaMKⅡ in each group were detected by Western blotting. Results Compared with model control group and normal control group,the number of apoptotic cells in AD-like model group were significantly increased in CA1, dentate gyrus and CA3 subfields of the hippocampus( all P 0. 05). Compared with model control group and normal control group,the expression of CaMKⅡin AD-like model group was significantly increased in the hippocampus( all P 0. 05). Conclusion The expression of CaMKⅡ pathologically increases in the hippocampus of AD-like rat,which promotes the apoptosis of hippocampal neurons.