title: Improvement of depressive behaviors by nefiracetam is associated with activation of CaM kinases in olfactory bulbectomized mice.
abstract: Olfactory bulbectomized (OBX) mice exhibit depressive-like behaviors as assessed by the tail suspension test (TST) and the forced swim test (FST). Interestingly, chronic intraperitoneal administration (1 mg/kg/day) of nefiracetam (DM-9384), a prototype cognitive enhancer, significantly improved depressive-like behaviors as well as spatial reference memory assessed by Y-maze task. As previously reported (Moriguchi, S., Han, F., Nakagawasai, O., Tadano, T., Fukunaga, K., 2006. Decreased calcium/calmoculin-dependent protein kinase II and protein kinase C activities mediate impairment of hippocampal long-term potentiation in the olfactory bulbectomized mice. J. Neurochem. 97, 22-29), decreased activities of Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in the hippocampal CA1 region and amygdala were observed in OBX mice. Nefiracetam treatment (1 mg/kg/day) significantly elevated CaMKII but not ERK activities in the amygdala, prefrontal cortex and hippocampal CA1 regions. In addition, we found an elevation of cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex but not in the hippocampal CA1 region. Increased CREB phosphorylation was associated with activation of CaMKI and CaMKIV as well as CaMKII in these regions. Taken together, in addition to CaMKII, CaMKI and CaMKIV activation mediated by nefiracetam treatment might mediate CREB phosphorylation following chronic nefiracetam treatment, thereby eliciting an anti-depressive and cognition-enhancing effect on OBX mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Tetsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Yui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Norifumi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shioda
authors.forename: Ying-Mei
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Kohji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukunaga
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D054729:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D054734:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 4 / Q000378:metabolism*; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000293:injuries* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D011760:Pyrrolidinones / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects; D013550:Swimming
chemical_list: D018697:Nootropic Agents; D011760:Pyrrolidinones; C058876:nefiracetam; D054729:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 1; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2; D054734:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 4