Panguluri Siva K, Kuwabara Nobuyuki, Cooper Nigel, Tipparaju Srinivas M, Sneed Kevin B, Lundy Robert F
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of South Florida, 12901 Bruce B Downs Boulevard MDC030, Tampa, FL 33612, USA.
Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, School of Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA.
Neurosci J. 2013;2013:739764. doi: 10.1155/2013/739764. Epub 2013 May 23.
Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) is an adaptive behavior that benefits survival of animals including humans and also serves as a powerful model to study the neural mechanisms of learning. Memory formation is a necessary component of CTA learning and involves neural processing and regulation of gene expression in the amygdala. Many studies have been focused on the identification of intracellular signaling cascades involved in CTA, but not late responsive genes underlying the long-lasting behavioral plasticity. In this study, we explored in silico experiments to identify persistent changes in gene expression associated with CTA in rats. We used oligonucleotide microarrays to identify 248 genes in the amygdala regulated by CTA. Pathway Studio and IPA software analyses showed that the differentially expressed genes in the amygdala fall in diverse functional categories such as behavior, psychological disorders, nervous system development and function, and cell-to-cell signaling. Conditioned taste aversion is a complex behavioral trait which involves association of visceral and taste inputs, consolidation of taste and visceral information, memory formation, retrieval of stored information, and extinction phase. In silico analysis of differentially expressed genes is therefore necessary to manipulate specific phase/stage of CTA to understand the molecular insight.
条件性味觉厌恶（CTA）是一种适应性行为，对包括人类在内的动物的生存有益，也是研究学习神经机制的有力模型。记忆形成是CTA学习的必要组成部分，涉及杏仁核中的神经处理和基因表达调控。许多研究都集中在鉴定参与CTA的细胞内信号级联反应上，而不是长期行为可塑性背后的晚期反应基因。在本研究中，我们进行了计算机模拟实验，以鉴定与大鼠CTA相关的基因表达的持续变化。我们使用寡核苷酸微阵列来鉴定杏仁核中受CTA调控的248个基因。Pathway Studio和IPA软件分析表明，杏仁核中差异表达的基因属于多种功能类别，如行为、心理障碍、神经系统发育和功能以及细胞间信号传导。条件性味觉厌恶是一种复杂的行为特征，涉及内脏和味觉输入的关联、味觉和内脏信息的巩固、记忆形成、存储信息的检索以及消退阶段。因此，对差异表达基因进行计算机模拟分析对于操纵CTA的特定阶段以了解分子机制是必要的。
