Figure 1.

Effects of CK2 on spatial memory formation and phosphorylation of SGK and Akt. A, CK2 activity is markedly decreased in CA1 area, but not DG area, after water maze training (n = 5 each group). B, Overexpression of CK2αA¹⁵⁶ in CA1 neurons enhanced spatial memory formation (left; n = 7–8 each group), but overexpression of CK2αA¹⁵⁶ in DG neurons did not markedly affect spatial memory performance (right; n = 6 each group). C, Immunohistochemistry showing the transfection and expression of CK2αA¹⁵⁶ in individual CA1 neurons and DG neurons. Arrow indicates the area of transfection. Scale bars: top, 400 μm; bottom, 20 μm. D, Western blot showing that CK2αA¹⁵⁶ transfection increased SGK1 phosphorylation at Ser422 (left), decreased Akt phosphorylation at Ser473 (middle), and increased CREB phosphorylation at Ser133 (right) in CA1 neurons. Data are mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p = 0.001.