Immunohistochemical localization of the INsP4 receptor GTPase-activating protein GAP1IP4BP in the rat brain.

The distribution of GAP1(IP4BP), a GTPase-activating protein showing high affinity and stereospecificity for inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate (InsP4), was investigated by Western blot and immunohistochemistry of rodent brain with polyclonal antibodies generated against the carboxy-terminus of the cloned protein. GAP1(IP4BP)-like immunoreactivity was found throughout the brain, most notably in the pyriform cortex, neocortex, hippocampus, striatum, and cerebellar cortex. However, the most striking immunolabeling was consistently localized to area CA1 of the hippocampus and the central, medial, and intercalated nuclei of the amygdala. Western blot analysis of the corresponding brain regions corroborated these immunohistochemical observations. The regionally specific expression of GAP1(IP4BP) provides the prerequisite neuroanatomical substrate toward elucidating the functional role of InsP4 and GAP1(IP4BP) in the central nervous system.