ROLE OF ADF/CO FILIN AS A KEY REGULATOR OF ACTIN CYTOS KELETON DYNAMICS IN DIFFERENT PHASES OF FEAR MEMORY IN MICE

DE LA FUENTE V; MEDINA C; ROMANO A

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 2016. Second FALAN Congress; 2016

Sociedades de Neurociencias de varios países de Latinoamérica

Given an associative learning, the association between CS and US can be encoded in neural circuits, by a process termed consolidation of memory. This process entails alterations in synaptic efficacy, which in turn depends on the regulation of morphology and density of dendritic spines, small actin-rich protrusions from neuronal dendrites which form the postsynaptic part of most excitatory synapses and are major sites of information processing and storage in the brain. Actin dynamics between its monomeric form and its filamentous polymer is finely regulated by many factors, including ADF/cofilin, a protein with depolymerizing activity. ADF/cofilin has recently emerged as a central determinant for many memory processes, including acquisition and extinction. Yet, its role on regulating actin cytoskeleton during memory labilization and reconsolidation is still unknown. If memory retrieval is induced by nonreinforced exposure to the CS, one of two processes may take part: reconsolidation or extinction of that memory trace. In our work, we focus on how the regulation of this actin-depolymerizing factor can influence memory consolidation, reconsolidation and extintion, using a fear conditioning paradigm in mice.