Figure 4.

Repeated administration of ethanol increases the phosphorylation level of the NR2B subunit in the synaptosomal membranes of the DMS. Rats were treated with saline or ethanol (2 g/kg, i.p.) once a day for 7 d. The DMS was dissected 16 h after the last injection. A, Repeated ethanol exposure increased the phosphorylation level of synaptosomal NR2B subunits. Phospho-NR2B (p-NR2B) and anti-NR2B antibodies were used to detect the phosphorylated form and the total amount of the NR2B subunit in synaptosomal membranes, respectively. Left, Images are representative of n = 6 for each treatment. Middle and right, Bar graphs summarizing the averaged changes in the protein (middle) and phosphorylation levels (right) of synaptosomal NR2B subunits. Western blot data were normalized to GAPDH and plotted as percentage of saline treatment. **p < 0.01 versus saline by two-tailed t test. B, Repeated ethanol administration does not alter the protein levels of NR2B subunits in total DMS homogenates. Image is representative of n = 9 for both treatments. p > 0.05 by two-tailed t test.