retrieval of context-associated memory is dependent on the cav3.2 t-type calcium channel检索context-associated记忆依赖于cav3.2衣架钙通道.pdfVIP

Retrieval of Context-Associated Memory is Dependent on the Cav3.2 T-Type Calcium Channel 1. 2. 2 3 3 Chien-Chang Chen , Jhe-Wei Shen , Ni-Chun Chung , Ming-Yuan Min , Sin-Jong Cheng , Ingrid Y. Liu2* 1 Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, 2 Department of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan, 3 Institute of Zoology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan Abstract Among all voltage-gated calcium channels, the T-type Ca2+ channels encoded by the Ca 3.2 genes are highly expressed in v the hippocampus, which is associated with contextual, temporal and spatial learning and memory. However, the specific involvement of the Cav3.2 T-type Ca2+ channel in these hippocampus-dependent types of learning and memory remains unclear. To investigate the functional role of this channel in learning and memory, we subjected Cav3.2 homozygous and heterozygous knockout mice and their wild-type littermates to hippocampus-dependent behavioral tasks, including trace fear conditioning, the Morris water-maze and passive avoidance. The Cav3.2 2/ 2 mice performed normally in the Morris water-maze and auditory trace fear conditioning tasks but were impaired in the context-cued trace fear conditioning, step- down and step-through passive avoidance tasks. Furthermore, long-term potentiation (LTP) could be induced for 180 minutes in hippocampal slices of WTs and Ca 3.2 +/ 2 mice, whereas LTP persisted for only 120 minutes in Ca 3.2 2/ 2