Beschreibung:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>We have recently shown that <jats:italic>in utero</jats:italic> treatment of guinea pigs with the DNA methylating substance methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) results in neocortical microencephalopathy, increased protein kinase C (PKC) activity and altered processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) in neocortex of offspring. Here we show that PKCα and PKCβ1 are the key regulators of α‐secretory APP processing in guinea pig neocortex under these experimental conditions <jats:italic>in vivo</jats:italic>. This conclusion is based on the selective translocation of PKCα and PKCβ1 isoforms to the cell membrane in MAM‐treated guinea pigs, as revealed by Western blot analysis and by immunocytochemistry. Additionally, we observed that [<jats:sup>3</jats:sup>H]phorbol ester binding to protein kinase C increased by 38% and enhanced basal PKC activity by 58% in the neocortex of microencephalic guinea pigs. Inhibition of PKCα/PKCβ1 by Gö6976 abolished this difference, suggesting that constitutive overactivation of these PKC isoforms accounts for the increase in total PKC activity. We also observed a strong positive correlation between levels of α‐secretase‐processed APP and PKC activity in the neocortex of individual animals, providing further evidence for a significant role of classical PKC isoforms in nonamyloidogenic APP processing.</jats:p>