NMDA like receptors in Chasmagnathus granulatus

YANIL HEPP; CARBÓ-TANO MARTIN; FREUDENTHAL RAMIRO; PEDREIRA MARÍA EUGENIA

Huerta Grande, Cordoba, Argentina

Congreso; IIRCN; 2010

Taller Argentino de Neurociencias y SAN

The NMDA glutamate receptors (NMDARs) mediate a majority of excitatory neurotransmission in the nervous system. Molecular and electrophysiological properties suggest that they may be the Hebbian´ coincidence detectors, and has been implicated in synaptic plasticity, memory acquisition and learning, in both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the crab Chasmagnathus granulatus, the systemic administration of NMDAR antagonists (MK-801, APV) affects the consolidation and reconsolidation of the Context-Signal Memory, indicating that NMDA like receptors have been involved in long-term memory in this invertebrate model. Therefore, the first step was the characterization of the NMDA like receptors in the crabs. Immunohistochemistry techniques were applied to identify the distribution of the NR1 and NR2 like receptor subunits through the nervous system. With Western Blot techniques we evaluated the antibody specificity, as well as the expression pattern and molecular weight of these receptor subunits. The variation of the receptors number or their membrane insertion, as consequence of learning y/o drug treatments was studied.