Cloning of cytidine triphosphate: phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase mRNA upregulated by a neuropeptide arginine-vasopressin((4-8)) in rat hippocampus.

Neuropeptide arginine-vasopressin((4-8)) (AVP(4-8)) is a metabolite of arginine-vasopressin which has been shown to have potent memory-enhancing activity, facilitate neurite elongation and prolongate cell aging. Identification of differentially expressed genes in hippocampus induced by AVP(4-8) is important for understanding the molecular basis of AVP(4-8) function. Differential display PCR and 5'rapid amplification of cDNA Ends were used. One new full length cDNA encoding rat cytidine triphosphate: phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (CCT) beta was thus obtained. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that it was upregulated by AVP(4-8) in mature rat hippocampus. The study of tissue distribution with reverse transcription PCR showed that the gene was abundant in brain. Since CCT catalyzes the formation of cytidine diphosphate choline, which was reported to have a beneficial therapeutic effect on Alzheimer's disease, so we speculated that AVP(4-8) may be a potential candidate for treating Alzheimer's disease by upregulating CCT mRNA level.