UNLABELLED New memories are thought to be solidified (consolidated) by de novo synthesis of proteins in the period subsequent to learning. This view stems from the observation that protein synthesis inhibitors, such as anisomycin (ANI), administered during this consolidation period cause memory impairments. However, in addition to blocking protein synthesis, intrahippocampal infusions of ANI ca...

Hippocampal long-term depression (LTD) comprises a persistent reduction in synaptic strength that can be induced in the CA1 region by repeated low-frequency stimulation (LFS). Previous studies have demonstrated that hippocampal long-term potentiation requires de novo protein synthesis. Whether hippocampal LTD is also protein synthesis-dependent is not known. In this study, we investigated if th...

Sulforaphane, a well-characterised dietary isothiocyanate, has been demonstrated to be a potent anti-carcinogenic agent in numerous cancer models, including in bladder cancer cells. In the present study, sulforaphane up-regulated the expression of two Nrf2-dependent enzymes, glutathione transferase (GSTA1-1) and thioredoxin reductase (TR-1), and down-regulated cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) in human ...

The roles of Rac and p38 kinase in the activation of cPLA2 (cytosolic PLA2) in Rat-2 fibroblasts were investigated. In the present study, we found that PMA activates cPLA2 by a Rac-p38 kinase-dependent pathway. Consistent with this, Rac, if activated, was shown to stimulate cPLA2 in a p38 kinase-dependent manner. In another experiment to understand the signalling mechanism by which the Rac-p38 ...

A frameshifting 7 bp deletion (epsilon553del7) in exon 7 of CHRNE encoding the acetylcholine receptor epsilon subunit, observed in seven congenital myasthenic syndrome patients, enhances expression of an aberrantly spliced transcript that skips the preceding 101 bp exon 6. To recapitulate the aberrant splicing, we cloned the entire CHRNE spanning 12 exons and 11 introns and expressed it in COS ...

Reconsolidation has been described as a process where a consolidated memory returns to a labile state when retrieved. Growing evidence suggests that reconsolidation is, in fact, a destabilization/stabilization process that incorporates updated information to a previously consolidated memory. We used the conditioned taste aversion (CTA) task in order to test this theory. On the first trial, the ...

In the present study, we examined the role of the auditory thalamus [medial division of the medial geniculate nucleus and the adjacent posterior intralaminar nucleus (MGm/PIN)] in auditory pavlovian fear conditioning using pharmacological manipulation of intracellular signaling pathways. In the first experiment, rats were given intrathalamic infusions of the MEK (mitogen-activated protein kinas...

Elevated intracellular Ca2+ concentration within the Hermissenda type B cell has previously been shown to cause transient reduction of both the early K+ current IA and the delayed, Ca2+-dependent K+ current ICa2+-K+, a reduction that is more permanent with classical conditioning. Other earlier experiments suggested that Ca2+-mediated reduction of K+ currents initially involves the dual activati...

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARgamma) transcription factor plays a pivotal role in adipocyte differentiation and metabolic regulation. The transcriptional activity of PPARgamma is positively modulated by ligand binding and negatively regulated by phosphorylation mediated by the MEK/ERK signaling pathway. The phosphorylation of mouse PPARgamma1 at Ser82 by ERK causes a...

Long-term sensitization training induces persistent changes in both electrophysiological properties and specific structural features of sensory neurons in Aplysia californica. Previously, we found that transient elevation of intracellular cAMP could also modify these features in sensory neurons located in the pleural ganglion. In the present study we examined the role of protein synthesis in st...