ACTIN CYTOSKELETON DINAMICS IN FEAR MEMORY RECONSOLIDATION

MEDINA C; DE LA FUENTE V; ROMANO A

Huerta Grande, Córdoba

Congreso; XXVIII Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencia; 2013

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias

In its initial state, memory is unstable and requires a process of consolidation to stabilize (McGaugh, 2000). Once consolidated, memory can become labile again if presented with a reminder, and may go through a process of restabilization, termed reconsolidation (Dudai, 2012). Dendritic spines are small actin-rich protrusions from neuronal dendrites that form the postsynaptic part of most excitatory synapses and are major sites of information processing and storage in the brain. Changes in the shape and the density of dendritic spines are correlated with the strength of excitatory synaptic connections (Bourne & Harris, 2007; Bourne & Harris, 2008), and heavily depend on remodeling of its underlying actin cytoskeleton (Hotulainen & Hoogenraad, 2010). This skeleton is dynamic, changing between the globular monomer form, G-actin, and the actin filaments, F-actin. Some evidence suggests that the morphology and density of dendritic spines plays a key role in memory consolidation (Lamprecht y LeDoux, 2004). However, the regulation of spine dynamics in reconsolidation is unknown. We aim to study actin cytoskeleton dynamics in hippocampal memory reconsolidation. For this purpose, we will pharmacologically induce the depolimerization of actin filaments, to see whether reconsolidation is disrupted. Furthermore, we will study the role of ADF/cofilin in the process of memory restabilization. These studies may help us understand the nature of reconsolidation at the molecular level.