title: Alterations in the balance of protein kinase and phosphatase activities and age-related impairments of synaptic transmission and long-term potentiation.
abstract: Aging is associated with an impaired ability to maintain long-term potentiation (LTP), but the underlying cause of the impairment remains unclear. To gain a better understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for this impairment, the synaptic transmission and plasticity were studied in the CA1 region of hippocampal slices from adult (6-8 months) and poor-memory (PM)-aged (23-24 months) rats. The one-way inhibitory avoidance learning task was used as the behavioral paradigm to screen PM-aged rats. With intracellular recordings, CA1 neurons of PM-aged rats exhibited a more hyperpolarized resting membrane potential, reduced input resistance, and increased amplitude of afterhyperpolarization and spike threshold, compared with those in adult rats. Although a reduction in the size of excitatory synaptic response was observed in PM-aged rats, no obvious differences were found between adult and PM-aged rats in the pharmacological properties of excitatory synaptic response, paired-pulse facilitation, or frequency-dependent facilitation, which was tested with trains of 10 pulses at 1, 5, and 10 Hz. Slices from the PM-aged rats displayed significantly reduced early-phase long-term potentiation (E-LTP) and late-phase LTP (L-LTP), and the entire frequency-response curve of LTP and LTD is modified to favor LTD induction. The susceptibility of time-dependent reversal of LTP by low-frequency afferent stimulation was also facilitated in PM-aged rats. Bath application of the protein phosphatase inhibitor, calyculin A, enhanced synaptic response in slices from PM-aged, but not adult, rats. In contrast, application of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase inhibitors, Rp-8-CPT-cAMPS and KT5720, induced a decrease in synaptic transmission only in slices from the adult rats. Furthermore, the selective beta-adrenergic receptor agonist, isoproterenol, and pertussis toxin-sensitive G-protein inhibitor, N-ethylmaleimide, effectively restored the deficit in E-LTP and L-LTP of PM-aged rats. These results demonstrate that age-related impairments of synaptic transmission and LTP may result from alterations in the balance of protein kinase/phosphatase activities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan. richard@mail.ncku.edu.tw
authors.forename: Kuei-Sen
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Chiung-Chun
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Ying-Ching
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Huang-Ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yea-Lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Shiow-Win
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: Wen-Chia
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Ho
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000503:physiopathology; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D011494:Protein Kinases; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases