KEY ROLE OF NF-kB IN LONG-TERM MEMORY CONSOLIDATION AND RECONSOLIDATION

E.MERLO; R.FREUDENTHAL; A.G.ROMANO

Washington, DC, USA

Congreso; 35 th Annual Meeting; 2005

SFN

Abstract View KEY ROLE OF NF-B IN LONG-TERM MEMORY CONSOLIDATION AND RECONSOLIDATION E.Merlo*; R.Freudenthal; A.G.Romano Laboratorio de Neurobiologa de la Memoria, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiologa y Biologa Molecular y Celular y Neurociencias, IFIBYNE, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina During Long-Term Memory (LTM) consolidation, both mRNA and protein synthesis are well known necessary features. These were proved to be general phenomenon in LTM formation all the way through the animal kingdom. Recently, some interesting data hint the possible existence of a new consolidation phase opened by the reactivation of consolidated memories. This reconsolidation phase is dependent upon transcriptional and translational events as well. At this time, whether or not the reconsolidation is a recapitulation of consolidation processes is a matter of intense debate. Some line of experiment did shown similar molecular processes involved in both phases, but some others did shown molecular pathway specificity to each one. This work presents data supporting a role of the transcription factor (TF) NF-B in both memory consolidation and reconsolidation of an invertebrate LTM model, the context-signal memory paradigm in the crab Chasmagnathus. A high correlation between NF-B activation and training conditions required to induce LTM was found. Pharmacological studies have shown that an inhibitor of NF-B pathway, sulfasalazine, induced amnesia only during the periods in which NF-B activity is rising, supporting that this TF activity is required throughout memory consolidation. Interestingly, we also found activation of NF-B induced by memory retrieval. Sulfasalazine did shown amnesic effect on reconsolidation when was administered previous to memory reactivation. Therefore this new NF-B activation episode has been shown to be necessary for the reconsolidation phase. All these data suggest a key role of NF-B in LTM storage and maintenance. This molecular pathway seems to be a core system in consolidation and reconsolidation, strengthening the hypothesis of similar mechanisms in both memory processes. Citation:E. Merlo, R. Freudenthal, A.G. Romano. KEY ROLE OF NF-B IN LONG-TERM MEMORY CONSOLIDATION AND RECONSOLIDATION Program No. 540.17. 2005 Abstract Viewer/Itinerary Planner. Washington, DC: Society for Neuroscience, 2005. Online.