Age-related spatial learning impairment is unrelated to spinophilin immunoreactive spine number and protein levels in rat hippocampus

NEUROBIOLOGY OF AGING

卷:29

Article

Calhoun, Michael E.^1,2  Fletcher, Bonnie R.¹  Yi, Stella¹  Zentko, Diana C.¹  Gallagher, Michela³  Rapp, Peter R.¹ 

[1] Mt Sinai Sch Med, Fishberg Dept Neurosci, Kastor Neurobiol Aging Labs, New York, NY 10029 USA

[2] Univ Tubingen, Dept Cellular Neurol, Hertie Inst Clin Brain Res, D-72076 Tubingen, Germany

[3] Johns Hopkins Univ, Dept Psychol & Brain Sci, Baltimore, MD 21218 USA

关键词: hippocampus;    spinophilin;    rat;    aging;    Morris water-maze;    learning;    memory;    stereology;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2007.02.013

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Age-related impairments in hippocampus-dependent learning and memory tasks are not associated with a loss of hippocampal neurons, but may be related to alterations in synaptic integrity. Here we used stereological techniques to estimate spine number in hippocampal subfields using immunostaining for the spine-associated protein, spinophilin, as a marker. Quantification of the immunoreactive profiles was performed using the optical disector/fractionator technique. Aging was associated with a modest increase in spine number in the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus and CA1 stratum lacunosum-moleculare. By comparison, spinophilin protein levels in the hippocampus, measured by Western blot analysis, failed to differ as a function of age. Neither the morphological nor the protein level data were correlated with spatial learning ability across individual aged rats. The results extend current evidence on synaptic integrity in the aged brain, indicating that a substantial loss of dendritic spines and spinophilin protein in the hippocampus are unlikely to contribute to age-related impairment in spatial learning. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free