The ribosome has been described as a ribozyme in which ribosomal RNA is responsible for peptidyl-transferase reaction catalysis. The W255C mutation of the universally conserved ribosomal protein uL3 has diverse effects on ribosome function (e.g., increased affinities for transfer RNAs, decreased rates of peptidyl-transfer), and cells harboring this mutation are resistant to peptidyl-transferase...

Ventricular myocytes are exposed to various pathologically important cell stresses in vivo. In vitro, extreme stresses (sorbitol-induced hyperosmotic shock in the presence or absence of okadaic acid, and anisomycin) were applied to ventricular myocytes cultured from neonatal rat hearts to induce a robust activation of the 46 and 54 kDa stress-activated protein kinases (SAPKs). These activities ...

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation activates cell signaling pathways in melanocytes. As a result of altered signaling pathways and UV-induced cellular damage, melanocytes can undergo oncogenesis and develop into melanomas. In this study, we investigated the effect of UV-radiation on p38 MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase), JNK and NFκB pathways to determine which plays a major role in stimulating T...

bstract—Previous studies indicated that stress levels of lucocorticoid hormones (cortisol in humans, and corticosteone in rodents) induce impairment of long-term memory etrieval, but the underlying mechanisms (genomic or nonenomic) are not clear. To clarify this issue, we investigated he involvement of brain corticosteroid receptors and protein ynthesis in the corticosterone-induced impairment ...

Spermidine (SPD) is an endogenous aliphatic amine that modulates GluN2B-containing NMDA receptors and improves memory. Recent evidence suggests that systemic SPD improves the persistence of the long term memory of fear. However, the role of hippocampal polyamines and its binding sites in the persistence of fear memory is to be determined, as well as its putative underlying mechanisms. This stud...

It is generally believed that consolidation of long-term memory requires activation of protein kinases, transcription of genes, and new protein synthesis. However, little is known about the signal cascades involved in the extinction of memory, which occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer followed by the unconditioned stimulus. Here, we show for the first time that an intra-amygdala i...

Conditioned defeat is a model wherein hamsters that have previously experienced a single social defeat subsequently exhibit heightened levels of avoidance and submission in response to a smaller, non-aggressive intruder. While we have previously demonstrated the critical involvement of the basolateral and central nuclei of the amygdala in the acquisition and expression of conditioned defeat, th...

In the adult mouse, signaling through c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) links exposure to acute stress to various physiological responses. Inflammatory cytokines, brain injury and ischemic insult, or exposure to psychological acute stressors induce activation of hippocampal JNKs. Here we report that exposure to acute stress caused activation of JNKs in the hippocampal CA1 and CA3 subfields, and i...

Information storage in the brain is a temporally graded process involving different memory types or phases. It has been assumed for over a century that one or more short-term memory (STM) processes are involved in processing new information while long-term memory (LTM) is being formed. It has been repeatedly reported that LTM requires de novo RNA synthesis around the time of training. Here we s...

Early in their formation, memories are thought to be labile, requiring a process called consolidation to give them near-permanent stability. Evidence for consolidation as an active and biologically separate mnemonic process has been established through posttraining manipulations of the brain that promote or disrupt subsequent retrieval. Consolidation is thought to be ultimately mediated via pro...