title: Variable alternative spliced exon (VASE)-containing and VASE-lacking neural cell adhesion molecule in the dorsal and ventral hippocampus of SAMP8 mice.
abstract: The neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is involved in the development and synaptic plasticity of the brain. Differential splicing of the variable alternative spliced exon (VASE) in the fourth immunoglobulin domain can dramatically change the functional properties of NCAM. This paper discusses our analysis of the levels of different expression of VASE-containing NCAM (NCAM-VASE(+)) and VASE-lacking NCAM (NCAM-VASE(-)) mRNAs in the dorsal and ventral hippocampus of senescence-accelerated mice (SAM). We further investigated the individual level of NCAM-VASE(+) and NCAM-VASE(-) in relation to the capacity for spatial learning and memory as assessed by a Morris water maze task. The results showed that the levels of both NCAM-VASE(+) and NCAM-VASE(-) were increased significantly in dorsal but not ventral hippocampus in aged SAMP8 mice. The mean latencies to find the hidden platform of the learning task on the last day were positively correlated with the levels of NCAM-VASE(+) in the dorsal hippocampus of SAMP8, which reveals that the mice with high levels of NCAM-VASE(+) have poor learning performances. These results suggest that the up-regulation of NCAM-VASE(+) could be involved in the impairments of spatial learning and memory.
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and Department of Neurobiology, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Gui-Hai
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Xiao-Ming
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jiang-Ning
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D019006:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D019006:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules; D009842:Oligopeptides; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C086869:VASE peptide