Inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase-extracellular signal-regulated kinase disrupts latent inhibition of cued fear conditioning in C57BL/6 mice.

The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) cascade has been implicated in a variety of associative conditioning tasks. However, the role of the MAPK-ERK cascades in modulating conditioning is less clear. The authors examined the effect of the potent and selective MAPK-ERK inhibitor SL327 on latent inhibition of cued fear conditioning. The results demonstrate that 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg SL327 disrupt latent inhibition of cued fear conditioning. These data provide evidence for an essential role of the MAPK-ERK cascade in tasks that modulate the strength of associative conditioning. The results are discussed in relation to the molecular mechanisms that support latent inhibition of cued fear conditioning.