Ethanol tolerance and enhanced calcium/calmodulin-dependent phosphorylation of synaptic membrane proteins.

The chronic effects of ethanol on synaptic membrane proteins was studied in ethanol-tolerant rats. Synaptic plasma membranes and postsynaptic densities were prepared from homogenates of forebrain and incubated in vitro with [gamma-32P]adenosine triphosphate in the presence and absence of calcium and calmodulin. In ethanol-tolerant animals, enhanced phosphorylation of synaptic plasma membrane but not postsynaptic density proteins was demonstrated in the presence of calcium and calmodulin. These results suggest that the development of tolerance to ethanol may involve alteration in neuronal sensitivity to calcium.