title: Immunohistochemical detection of the activation of CREB and c-Fos transcription factors in the nervous system of the terrestrial snail induced by pentylenetetrazole.
abstract: Phosphorylation of CREB transcription factor and expression of the immediate early gene c-fos in the brains of vertebrates play a key role in the molecular genetic mechanisms of long-term neuronal plasticity. The present study identifies the conditions for immunohistochemical detection of pCREB and c-Fos in the nervous system of the mollusk Helix lucorum (Pulmonata: Stylommatophora); activation of these transcription factors was demonstrated after administration of the convulsive agent pentylenetetrazole. Basal pCREB and c-Fos levels in the central nervous system of intact animals were low. Injection of pentylenetetrazole at a dose of 600 mg/kg evoked characteristic stereotypical motor responses, along with sharp reductions in the phosphorylation of CREB1 and expression of the immediate early gene c-fos, this also occurring in identified neurons. Double immunofluorescent labeling of pCREB and c-Fos showed that expression of c-Fos transcription factor was seen only in pCREB-immunoreactive neurons. These data provide evidence that activation of pCREB and c-Fos transcription factors can be used as molecular markers for mapping the processes of neuronal plasticity in the nervous systems of mollusks.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for the Neurobiology of Memory, P. K. Anokhin Research Institute of Normal Physiology, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow. o_efimova@yahoo.com
authors.forename: O I
authors.initials: OI
authors.lastname: Efimova
authors.forename: V N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Ierusalimskii
authors.forename: K V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Anokhin
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Balaban
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003292:Convulsants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D017952:Ganglia, Invertebrate / Q000378:metabolism; D006372:Helix, Snails / Q000502:physiology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009420:Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D003292:Convulsants; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole