title: Involvement of phosphorylated Apis mellifera CREB in gating a honeybee's behavioral response to an external stimulus.
abstract: The transcription factor cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB) is involved in neuronal plasticity. Phosphorylation activates CREB and an increased level of phosphorylated CREB is regarded as an indicator of CREB-dependent transcriptional activation. In honeybees(Apis mellifera)we recently demonstrated a particular high abundance of the phosphorylated honeybee CREB homolog (pAmCREB) in the central brain and in a subpopulation of mushroom body neurons. We hypothesize that these high pAmCREB levels are related to learning and memory formation. Here, we tested this hypothesis by analyzing brain pAmCREB levels in classically conditioned bees and bees experiencing unpaired presentations of conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US). We demonstrate that both behavioral protocols display differences in memory formation but do not alter the level of pAmCREB in bee brains directly after training. Nevertheless, we report that bees responding to the CS during unpaired stimulus presentations exhibit higher levels of pAmCREB than nonresponding bees. In addition, Trichostatin A, a histone deacetylase inhibitor that is thought to enhance histone acetylation by CREB-binding protein, increases the bees' CS responsiveness. We conclude that pAmCREB is involved in gating a bee's behavioral response driven by an external stimulus.
authors.affiliation: Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Katrin B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Gehring
authors.affiliation: Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Heufelder
authors.affiliation: Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Janina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feige
authors.affiliation: Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.affiliation: Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dyck
authors.affiliation: Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Lea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ehrhardt
authors.affiliation: Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kühnemund
authors.affiliation: Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bergmann
authors.affiliation: Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Josefine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Göbel
authors.affiliation: Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Marlene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Isecke
authors.affiliation: Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie, D-14195 Berlin, Germany dorothea.eisenhardt@fu-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Dorothea
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Eisenhardt
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D050882:CREB-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003609:Dactinomycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D056572:Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D006877:Hydroxamic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011500:Protein Synthesis Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D056572:Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors; D006877:Hydroxamic Acids; D011500:Protein Synthesis Inhibitors; D003609:Dactinomycin; C012589:trichostatin A; D050882:CREB-Binding Protein