title: Cell specificity of molecular changes during memory storage.
abstract: The aeolid nudibranch, Hermissenda crassicornis, exhibits Pavlovian conditioning to paired light and rotational stimuli and it has been suggested that protein kinase C(PKC) may play a critical role in the cellular mechanism for this conditioned behavioral response in the B-cell photoreceptor. The present study was designed to further examine learning-specific PKC involvement in identified cellular areas, particularly those in the visual-vestibular network, of the Hermissenda nervous system after Pavlovian conditioning. As used in previous vertebrate studies, the highly specific PKC radioligand, [3H]phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate ([3H]-PDBU), was used to determine the binding characteristics of the molluscan protein receptor considered to be PKC. The binding was specific, saturable, and could be displaced by a soluble diacylglycerol analogue. The binding activity was distributed evenly between the cytosol and the membrane. All of these analyses suggest that [3H]PDBU binds primarily to PKC in Hermissenda as it does in many other systems. Computerized grain image analysis was then used to determine the cellular localization of PKC as a function of Pavlovian conditioning. The medial and intermediate B photoreceptor and the optic ganglion showed significantly increased [3H]PDBU binding in conditioned animals. The present results provide the first report of an associative learning change of a key signal transduction component in identified neurons.
authors.affiliation: Neural Systems Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: McPhie
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Matzel
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Olds
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Lester
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kuzirian
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Alkon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001345:Autoradiography; D001665:Binding Sites; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D004075:Diglycerides / Q000494:pharmacology; D007700:Kinetics; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008974:Mollusca; D009420:Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D015240:Phorbol 12,13-Dibutyrate / Q000378:metabolism*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D014316:Tritium; D014796:Visual Perception
chemical_list: D004075:Diglycerides; D014316:Tritium; D015240:Phorbol 12,13-Dibutyrate; C038237:1-oleoyl-2-acetylglycerol