GHRELIN MODULATES HIPPOCAMPAL PLASTICITY BY INDUCING INCREASED BDNF EXPRESSION AND INCREASED DENSITY OF DENDRITIC SPINES.'

RUBIALES SUSANA; PEREA VEGA MARY LUZ; SANCHEZ MÓNICA SILVINA; MARTÍN MAURICIO

Buenos aires

Congreso; LXII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Clínica/Reunión Conjunta de Sociedades de Biociencias,; 2018

Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Clínica/Reunión Conjunta de Sociedades de Biociencias

Ghrelin (Gr) is a peptide involved in the modulation of various biological processes. Previous work has shown that intracerebroventricular or hippocampal Gr (Hp) administration improves memory retention in a dose-dependent manner in rats and mice subjected to different behavioral paradigms that evaluate memory. As for the mechanism of action, the threshold for inducing long-term potentiation (LTP, a process underlying memory formation) is lowered, it increases glutamate release and increases the expression of the NMDA receptor NR2B subunit.BDNF (Brain-derived neurotrophic factor), the most abundant neurotrophin in the nervous system and in Hp, is an important regulator of synaptic plasticity, dendritic arborization and memory.Taking into account the effects of Gr and those described for BDNF, we propose to investigate A) whether Gr-induced memory facilitation correlates with modifications in BDNF expression in young and old mice for which Hp slices were incubated in Presence of Gr and the BDNF mRNA from the activation of promoters I, II, IV and VI were evaluated; B) the effect of Gr on the density and morphology of dendritic spines (ED) for which Gr was added to hp cell culture. Gr increased levels of BDNF mRNA by almost 5-fold compared to untreated animals and the transcriptional activity of specific promoters: I and II in young mice and I and IV in old animals and also the number of ED. Our data suggest that Gr induced memory facilitation correlates with an increase in Bdnf transcription and induces an increase in the number of EDs.