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Arachidonoyldiacylglycerol (20:4-DAG) is a second messenger derived from phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate and generated by stimulation of glutamate metabotropic receptors linked to G proteins and activation of phospholipase C. 20:4-DAG signaling is terminated by its phosphorylation to phosphatidic acid, catalyzed by diacylglycerol kinase (DGK). We have cloned the murine DGK gene that showed, when expressed in COS-7 cells, selectivity for 20:4-DAG. The significance of DGK in synaptic function was investigated in mice with targeted disruption of the DGK . DGK ؊/؊ mice showed a higher resistance to eletroconvulsive shock with shorter tonic seizures and faster recovery than DGK ؉/؉ mice. The phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate-signaling pathway in cerebral cortex was greatly affected, leading to lower accumulation of 20:4-DAG and free 20:4. Also, long-term potentiation was attenuated in perforant path-dentate granular cell synapses. We propose that DGK contributes to modulate neuronal signaling pathways linked to synaptic activity, neuronal plasticity, and epileptogenesis.

Results are presented of an integrated stratigraphic (calcareous plankton biostratigraphy, cyclostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy) study of the Serravallian=Tortonian (S=T) boundary section of Monte Gibliscemi (Sicily, Italy). Astronomical calibration of the sedimentary cycles provides absolute ages for calcareous plankton bio-events in the interval between 9.8 and 12.1 Ma. The first occurrence (FO) of Neogloboquadrina acostaensis, usually taken to delimit the S=T boundary, is dated astronomically at 11.781 Ma, pre-dating the migratory arrival of the species at low latitudes in the Atlantic by almost 2 million years. In contrast to delayed low-latitude arrival of N. acostaensis, Paragloborotalia mayeri shows a delayed low-latitude extinction of slightly more than 0.7 million years with respect to the Mediterranean (last occurrence (LO) at 10.49 Ma at Ceara Rise; LO at 11.205 Ma in the Mediterranean). The Discoaster hamatus FO, dated at 10.150 Ma, is clearly delayed with respect to the open ocean. The ages of D. kugleri first and last common occurrence (FCO and LCO), Catinaster coalitus FO, Coccolithus miopelagicus last (regular) occurrence (L(R)O) and the D. hamatus=neohamatus cross-over, however, are in good to excellent agreement with astronomically tuned ages for the same events at Ceara Rise (tropical Atlantic), suggesting that both independently established timescales are consistent with one another. The lack of a reliable magnetostratigraphy hampers a direct comparison with the geomagnetic polarity timescale of Cande and Kent (1995; CK95), but ages of calcareous nannofossil events suggests that CK95 is significantly younger over the studied time interval. Approximate astronomical ages for the polarity reversals were obtained by exporting astronomical ages of selected nannofossil events from Ceara Rise (and the Mediterranean) to eastern equatorial Pacific ODP Leg 138 Site 845, which has a reliable magnetostratigraphy.Our data from the Rio Mazzapiedi-Castellania section reveal that the base of the Tortonian stratotype corresponds almost exactly with the first regular occurrence (FRO) of N. acostaensis s.s. as defined in the present study, dated at 10.554 Ma. An extrapolated age of 11.8 Ma calculated for the top of the Serravallian stratotype indicates that there is a gap between the top of the Serravallian and the base of the Tortonian stratotype, potentially rendering all bio-events in the interval between 11.8 and 10.554 Ma suitable for delimiting the S=T boundary. Despite the tectonic deformation and the lack of a magnetostratigraphy, Gibliscemi remains a candidate to define the S=T boundary by means of the Tortonian global boundary stratotype section and point (GSSP). © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.Ł Corresponding author. E-mail: fhilgen@geo.uu.nl 0377-8398/00/$ -see front matter © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 3 7 7 -8 3 9 8 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 0 8 -6 182 F.J. Hilgen et al. / Marine Micropaleontology 38 (2000)