The role of protein kinase C in the opening of blood–brain barrier induced by electromagnetic pulse

The aim of this study was to determine the role of protein kinase C signaling in electromagnetic pulse (EMP)-induced blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability change in rats. The protein level of total PKC and two PKC isoforms (PKC-α, and PKC-β II) were determined in brain cerebral cortex microvessels by Western blot after exposing rats to EMP at 200 kV/m for 200 pulses with 1 Hz repetition rate. It was found that the protein level of PKC and PKC-βII (but not PKC-α) in cerebral cortex microvessels increased significantly at 0.5 h and 1 h after EMP exposure compared with sham-exposed animals and then recovered at 3 h. A specific PKC antagonist (H7) almost blocked EMP-induced BBB permeability change. EMP-induced BBB tight junction protein ZO-1 translocation was also inhibited. Our data indicated that PKC signaling was involved in EMP-induced BBB permeability change and ZO-1 translocation in rat.