Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N5Y 5T8.
Cereb Cortex. 2012 Nov;22(11):2486-94. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhr326. Epub 2011 Nov 24.
Dopamine (DA) signaling in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a critical role in the processing of emotional information and memory encoding. Activation of DA D4 receptors within the prelimbic (PLC) division of the mPFC bidirectionally modulates emotional memory by strongly potentiating the salience of normally nonsalient emotional memories but blocking the acquisition of suprathreshold emotionally salient fear memories. Previous in vitro studies have shown that activation of cortical DA D4 receptors can bidirectionally modulate levels of α-calcium calmodulin-dependent kinase II (α-CaMKII), a molecule essential for learning and memory. Using an olfactory fear conditioning procedure in rats combined with microinfusions into the mPFC, we examined the potential role of D4 receptor-mediated control of emotional memory salience through signaling via CaMKII, cAMP/protein kinase A (PKA), and protein phosphatase-1 (PP1) signaling. We report that CaMKII blockade prevents the ability of intra-mPFC DA D4 receptor activation to potentiate the salience of subthreshold fear memory. In contrast, blockade of either cAMP/PKA or PP1 signaling pathways rescued the blockade of suprathreshold fear memory via intra-mPFC D4 receptor activation. Our results demonstrate that modulation of emotional memory salience via intra-mPFC DA D4 receptor transmission depends upon downstream signaling via CaMKII, cAMP/PKA, and PP1 substrates.
中前额皮质(mPFC)中的多巴胺(DA)信号在处理情绪信息和记忆编码中起着关键作用。mPFC 前扣带回(PLC)区域内的 DA D4 受体的激活通过强烈增强正常非显著情绪记忆的显著性,同时阻止阈上情绪显著的恐惧记忆的获得,从而双向调节情绪记忆。先前的体外研究表明,皮质 DA D4 受体的激活可以双向调节α-钙调蛋白依赖性激酶 II(α-CaMKII)的水平,α-CaMKII 是学习和记忆所必需的分子。我们使用大鼠的嗅觉恐惧条件反射程序,并结合对 mPFC 的微输注,研究了通过 CaMKII、cAMP/蛋白激酶 A(PKA)和蛋白磷酸酶-1(PP1)信号转导,D4 受体介导的情绪记忆显著性控制的潜在作用。我们报告说,CaMKII 阻断防止了 mPFC 内 DA D4 受体激活增强亚阈值恐惧记忆显著性的能力。相比之下,cAMP/PKA 或 PP1 信号通路的阻断通过 mPFC 内 D4 受体的激活挽救了对阈上恐惧记忆的阻断。我们的结果表明,通过 mPFC DA D4 受体传递调节情绪记忆显著性取决于 CaMKII、cAMP/PKA 和 PP1 底物的下游信号转导。