Objective      To evaluate the effect of Connexin 43 (CX43) phosphorylation on detrusor overactivity (DO) in rats

and preliminarily investigate the influence of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) and protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) on CX43 phosphorylation.       Methods      DO rat model was established as the experimental group

and sham-operated rats were selected as the control group. The CX43 protein phosphorylation levels and the PP1 and PP2A expression changes were detected by Western blotting. Double immunofluorescence staining was used for detecting the localization and expression changes of CX43

PP1 and PP2A. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) was employed to compare the gap junction intercellular communication (GJIC) of the control group

the DO group and the DO+alkaline phosphatase (AP) group.       Results      Compared with the control group

the expression of CX43 protein with different phosphorylation statuses (P0

P1

and P2) in bladder was markedly increased in the DO group (P0.05)

while PP2A expression was decreased (P0.05)

but PP1 expression had no significant change. The GJIC of the DO group was significantly increased as compared to the control group

and the GJIC of the DO+AP group was significantly decreased as compared to the control group and the DO group.       Conclusion      Up-regulation of CX43 protein phosphorylation may play an important role in the progress of DO

and may be closely related with the decrease of PP2A expression.