Journal
NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 155, Issue 3, Pages 686-697Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2008.06.043
Keywords
BDNF; classical conditioning; turtles; GluR4; AMPAR trafficking; eye blink
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [NS-051187, P20 RR-015567]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been implicated in mechanisms of synaptic plasticity such as long-term potentiation (LTP), but its role in associative learning remains largely unknown. In the present study, we investigated the function of BDNF and its receptor tropornyosin-related kinase B (TrkB) in an in vitro model of classical conditioning using pond turtles, Pseudemys scripta elegans. Conditioning resulted in a significant increase in BDNF and phospho (p)-Trk expression. Bath application of antibodies directed against TrkB, but not TrkA or TrkC, abolished acquisition of conditioning, as did a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor K252a and an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase 7-nitroindazole. Significantly, injections of BDNF Ab into the nerve roots of presynaptic axonal projections or postsynaptic motor neurons prevented acquisition of conditioning, suggesting that BDNF is required on both sides of the synapse for modification to occur. The presynaptic proteins synaptophysin and synapsin I were increased upon conditioning or BDNF application. Furthermore, BDNF application alone mimicked conditioning-induced synaptic insertion of GluR1 and GluR4 AMPAR subunits into synapses, which was inhibited by co-application of BDNF and K252a. Data also show that extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) was activated in BDNF-treated preparations. We conclude that coordinate pre- and postsynaptic actions of BDNF are required for acquisition of in vitro classical conditioning. (C) 2008 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available