| Abstract No.: | C-B3045 |
| Country: | Canada |
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| Title: | DE NOVO PROTEIN SYNTHESIS OF SYNTAXIN-1 AND DYNAMIN IN LONG-TERM MEMORY FORMATION REQUIRES CREB1 GENE TRANSCRIPTION IN LYMNAEA STAGNALIS |
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| Authors/Affiliations: | 1 Cong-Hui Guo*; 1 Zhong-Ping Feng;
1 University of Toronto, ON, Canada
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| Content: | Consolidation of adverse operant conditioning into long-term memory (LTM) requires CREB-dependent de novo protein synthesis. The newly synthesized proteins are distributed to the synapses in neurons that are involved in memory formation and storage. At the synapses, activation of L-type calcium channels and postsynaptic receptors are required for long-term potentiation and memory formation. Accumulating evidence indicates that the presynaptic release mechanisms also play a role in long-term synaptic plasticity. Our understanding of whether the presynaptic proteins undergo de novo synthesis during long-term memory formation is limited. In this study, we investigated the involvement of syntaxin-1, a presynaptic exocytotic protein, and dynamin, an endocytotic protein, in the formation of long-term memory (LTM). Specifically, we took advantage of a well-established adverse operant conditioning model of aerial respiratory behavior in the fresh water pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis, and demonstrated that the LTM formation is associated with increased expression of syntaxin-1 and dynamin, which is coincident with elevated levels of phosphorylated-CREB1. Double stranded RNA inhibition (dsRNAi) of CREB1 expression prior to operant conditioning prevented snails from learning and/or memory consolidation, and reduced the expression of syntaxin and dynamin at both mRNA and protein levels, indicating that these synaptic proteins are downstream targets of CREB1 mediated gene expression. Our study offers insights into the molecular mechanisms that mediate CREB1-dependent long-term memory formation in L. stagnalis. |
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