叠氮钠对大鼠学习记忆及海马和额叶皮层内Aβ的影响

目的:观察大鼠长期皮下注射叠氮钠后的学习记忆、中枢神经系统β-淀粉样蛋白含量的改变.方法:采用Morris水迷宫、放射免疫和透射电镜的方法.结果:大鼠出现明显的空间记忆功能障碍,海马和额叶大脑皮层内Aβ含量升高.结论:长期皮下注射叠氮钠可以制备AD模型,并导致中枢Aβ的升高.     

钙结合蛋白与鸟类鸣唱学习记忆

钙结合蛋白(Calcium-binding proteins,CBPs,)能与第二信使Ca2+紧密结合,精细调节Ca2+在细胞内的生物活性.它可以作为HVC(higher vocal center)神经元分类的依据,也时鸣禽鸣唱的性别二态性及突触可塑性产生重要影响.因此.CBPs是鸣禽学习与记忆过程中的重要物质.主要对近年来钙结合蛋白在鸟鸣学习记忆中的研究进展进行了综述.     

钙神经素与学习和记忆

钙神经素 (calcineurin ,CN)是一种钙依赖的蛋白磷酸酶 ,其催化亚基的基因编码具严格保守性。近年来研究证明其在学习和记忆中有重要作用 ,参与了大脑神经元突触效应的去增强、多种不同机制的长时程抑制 (LTD)、长时程增强 (LTP)、认知记忆、短期记忆向长期记忆的转换、脑老化等过程。深入研究CN参与学习和记忆的机制及其与记忆减退性疾病的关系 ,具有重要理论与实践意义     

治疗阿尔茨海默病的新策略:脑啡肽酶

脑啡肽酶(neprilysin,NEP)在体内分布广泛、功能众多.近年来研究发现,NEP具有降解β淀粉样蛋白(amyloid βpeptides,Ap)的作用,而Aβ被认为是引起阿尔茨海默病(Alzheimer's disease,AD)的重要因素.体内外试验表明,NEP可发同时降解Aβ40和Aβ42,这种水解作用可以被NEP特异性的抑制剂Phosphoramidon和Thiorphan抑制.NEP家族的其它成员和类似物也表现出了类似的降解Aβ的作用,这都为治疗AD提供了新的策略.本文将就NEP及其类似物降解Aβ以及NEP与其他降解Aβ途径的关系作一综述.     

学习记忆相关基因研究进展

学习记忆是脑的重要功能之一,与学习记忆相关的基因很多,它们通过影响突触功能、信号转导、转录和翻译控制、能量代谢等途径进行学习记忆行为的调控。研究相关基因可为阐明学习记忆的分子机制和遗传机制奠定基础。     

β-淀粉样前体蛋白裂解途径及截断型β-淀粉样蛋白对阿尔茨海默病的影响

阿尔茨海默病(Alzheimer disease’s, AD)是以老年斑(senile plaques, SPs)、神经原纤维缠结(neurofibrillary tangles, NFTs)等为主要病理特征的神经退行性疾病。β-淀粉样蛋白(β-amyloid protein, Aβ)在神经元胞外聚集形成老年斑,是引起AD的关键因素。过量Aβ的产生来源于β-淀粉样前体蛋白(β-amyloid precursor protein, APP)裂解途径的异常。因此,探究APP在AD的发病过程中裂解途径及Aβ的产生机制具有重要意义。目前,很多药物研究以减少和清除老年斑为目的,但是老年斑的形成是由全长Aβ和多种截断型Aβ共同作用的结果,并且其对SPs形成的影响作用机制尚未完全明确。本文就APP裂解途径及截断型Aβ的产生机制进行综述,以期为AD的研究提供理论依据。     

Alzheimer氏病淀粉样前体蛋白的研究进展

Alzheimer氏病(AD)是一种发生于老年人群的原发性退行性脑病,其特征性病变为细胞内神经纤维缠绕(NFT)及细胞外老年斑(SP).构成SP的主要成分β淀粉样多肽(βA)为一由淀粉样前体蛋白(APP)剪切而来的分子质量约为4 ku的多肽,其神经毒性可能由其氧化作用和在脂质双层中形成的Ca²⁺通道所致.APP的功能目前尚未完全明了,可能具有促进细胞粘附、维护突触膜稳定性等功能.APP主要通过两种途径进行加工修饰：一为分泌途径,由一些假定的分泌酶催化;另一为胞内体-溶酶体途径.在形成SP的βA中,较长者比短者更易聚集,因此一些APP突变由于能够释放出更多的较长的βA或者使较短的βA生成量增加而致发家族性AD.一些可能在APP的代谢中起着重要作用的因素,如早衰蛋白的突变,也可通过增加βA的生成量而致发AD.     

microRNA 对淀粉样前体蛋白调控的研究进展

淀粉样前体蛋白(APP)参与了神经肌肉的信号传导、突触的可塑性及空间学习等生理过程,APP在阿兹海默病(AD)人脑组织中高表达,其切割产物β淀粉样蛋白(Aβ)则在AD的发生发展中起到重要作用。2011年4月,美国阿兹海默病协会将Aβ的聚集程度列入了新版AD诊疗指南中,通过减少APP的表达或降低其以β切割方式进行代谢来延缓AD的进展已成为很多学者的共识。microRNA(miRNA)是一类内生的、长度约19-24个核苷酸的小RNA,其在细胞内具有多种重要的调节作用,据推测,miRNA调控着人类约三分之一的基因。自2008年首次明确miRNA对APP表达存在调控作用之后,miRNA对APP的调控和相关机制的研究以及其对AD诊断和治疗潜在价值的探索已成为AD研究领域的热点之一,本文主要就miRNA对APP的表达、剪切和切割的调控及Aβ对miRNA的影响做一综述。     

神经元衔接蛋白X11L通过调节APP代谢抑制Aβ生成

X11L是一种神经元特异的衔接蛋白,可通过调节APP代谢抑制Aβ生成。X11L抑制Aβ生成的机制包括:X11L与APP结合,减少APP易位入富含β-和γ-分泌酶的DRM区域,抑制APP生成Aβ的途径;X11L与NF-kB/p65结合,阻止NF-kB/p65核转位,抑制NF-κB/p65诱导的Aβ生成。跨膜蛋白Alc可促进X11L对Aβ生成的抑制作用,而XB51蛋白可阻止X11L对Aβ生成的抑制作用。深入探讨X11L在APP代谢中的作用及其机制,将有助于揭示阿尔采末病(AD)尤其是绝大多数散发性AD(SAD)的发病机制,并最终采取有效防治措施。     

β分泌酶的研究进展

β淀粉样蛋白是淀粉样前体蛋白经β分泌酶和γ分泌酶共同作用产生的,其聚集是形成阿尔茨海默病(Alzheimer’s disease,AD),即老年性痴呆病人脑中老年斑的主要原因。实验证实BACE1(β-site APP cleaving enzyme)是体内主要的β分泌酶,它与同源蛋白BACE2组成新的天冬氨酸蛋白酶家族。关于β分泌酶的性质和功能、基因剔除实验、底物选择性、晶体结构和抑制剂研究都有了相应的报道,为进一步开发治疗老年性痴呆的药物奠定了基础。     

The Drosophila dunce locus: learning and memory genes in the fly.

The dunce gene, one of several genes critical for normal learning and memory in Drosophila, is organized in a complex and bizarre way, with enormous introns containing several other unrelated genes. Recent studies have focused on the spatial expression pattern of the product, cAMP phosphodiesterase, and have provisionally identified the mushroom bodies as important sites of action of dunce within adult brain. In addition, the recent cloning and characterization of dunce counterparts from mammals has revealed that these too may participate in animal behavior and, in particular, in the regulation of mood.     

The biochemistry of learning and memory

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry - An overview of some of the biochemical and molecular events involved in the process of learning and memory are presented in a short review. Two invertebrate...     

Morris water maze: procedures for assessing spatial and related forms of learning and memory

The Morris water maze (MWM) is a test of spatial learning for rodents that relies on distal cues to navigate from start locations around the perimeter of an open swimming arena to locate a submerged escape platform. Spatial learning is assessed across repeated trials and reference memory is determined by preference for the platform area when the platform is absent. Reversal and shift trials enhance the detection of spatial impairments. Trial-dependent, latent and discrimination learning can be assessed using modifications of the basic protocol. Search-to-platform area determines the degree of reliance on spatial versus non-spatial strategies. Cued trials determine whether performance factors that are unrelated to place learning are present. Escape from water is relatively immune from activity or body mass differences, making it ideal for many experimental models. The MWM has proven to be a robust and reliable test that is strongly correlated with hippocampal synaptic plasticity and NMDA receptor function. We present protocols for performing variants of the MWM test, from which results can be obtained from individual animals in as few as 6 days.     

学习记忆中的关键物质

谷氨酸是神经系统中较普遍的兴奋性神经递质,其受体有三种亚型:海人草酸(kainate,KA)受体、使君子氨酸(quisqualate,QA)受体和N-甲基-D-天门冬氨酸(N-methyl-D-aspartate,NMDA)受体。KA、QA、NMDA都是L-谷氨酸的类似物。KA受体、QA受体通道维持平时的信息传递,而NMDA受体通道只在学习记忆过程中才开启,因而被认为是学习记忆中的关键物质。     

The role of acetylcholine in learning and memory

Pharmacological data clearly indicate that both muscarinic and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors have a role in the encoding of new memories. Localized lesions and antagonist infusions demonstrate the anatomical locus of these cholinergic effects, and computational modeling links the function of cholinergic modulation to specific cellular effects within these regions. Acetylcholine has been shown to increase the strength of afferent input relative to feedback, to contribute to theta rhythm oscillations, activate intrinsic mechanisms for persistent spiking, and increase the modification of synapses. These effects might enhance different types of encoding in different cortical structures. In particular, the effects in entorhinal and perirhinal cortex and hippocampus might be important for encoding new episodic memories.     

The tc genes of Photorhabdus: a growing family

The toxin complex (tc) genes of Photorhabdus encode insecticidal, high molecular weight Tc toxins. These toxins have been suggested as useful alternatives to those derived from Bacillus thuringiensis for expression in insect-resistant transgenic plants. Although Photorhabdus luminescens is symbiotic with nematodes that kill insects, tc genes have recently been described from other insect-associated bacteria such as Serratia entomophila, an insect pathogen, and Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of bubonic plague, which has a flea vector. Here, recent advances in our understanding of the tc gene family are reviewed in view of their potential development as insect-control agents.