Department of Neuropsychiatry, College of Medicine and Institute of Mental Health, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea.
Mol Cells. 2012 Mar;33(3):295-300. doi: 10.1007/s10059-012-2254-9.
The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effects on hippocampal vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in rats when they experience hippocampal-dependent spatial learning via the Morris water maze (MWM) task. Rats underwent one of two different versions of the MWM: weak or intensive. After one day of intensive training, a highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure VEGF protein levels in the hippocampus, cortex, and serum, and higher levels were found in the trained group compared to a naive control group. VEGF levels also increased in rats that swam only for durations equal to the intensive training periods. In contrast, rats trained under the weaker MWM paradigm for five days showed a decrease in hippocampal VEGF protein level. Mimicking increases in neuronal VEGF in the hippocampus by direct infusion of VEGF into CA1 resulted in up-regulation of the phosphorylation of the cAMP response element-binding (CREB) protein and the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases II (CaMKII). These results suggest that VEGF may be a physiological parameter involved in learning procedures that include physical activity.
本研究旨在评估大鼠经历海马依赖性空间学习（通过 Morris 水迷宫任务）时，海马血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）水平的变化。大鼠接受了两种不同版本的 MWM 训练：弱强度和强强度。在强强度训练一天后，采用高灵敏度酶联免疫吸附测定法（ELISA）测量海马、皮质和血清中的 VEGF 蛋白水平，发现训练组的 VEGF 水平高于未训练的对照组。仅游泳时长与强强度训练时长相等的大鼠的 VEGF 水平也有所增加。相比之下，在较弱的 MWM 范式下训练五天的大鼠海马 VEGF 蛋白水平下降。通过直接将 VEGF 注入 CA1 模拟海马神经元 VEGF 的增加，导致 cAMP 反应元件结合蛋白（CREB）磷酸化和钙/钙调蛋白依赖性蛋白激酶 II（CaMKII）的上调。这些结果表明，VEGF 可能是参与包括体力活动在内的学习过程的生理参数。
