Impaired spatial working memory and decreased frontal cortex BDNF protein level in dopamine transporter knockout mice

• Published in: European journal of pharmacology Vol. 628; no. 1; pp. 104 - 107
• Main Authors: Li, BingJin, Arime, Yosefu, Hall, F. Scott, Uhl, George R., Sora, Ichiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 25.02.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Biological and medical sciences; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF); Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - metabolism; Cortex (frontal); Data processing; Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins - deficiency; Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins - genetics; Dopamine transporter; Dopamine transporter knockout (DAT KO) mouse; Female; Frontal cortex; Frontal Lobe - metabolism; Gene Deletion; Gene Expression Regulation; Hippocampus; Long term memory; Male; Maze Learning; Medical sciences; Memory; Memory Disorders - genetics; Memory Disorders - metabolism; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Neostriatum; Neurotrophins; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Plasticity (neural); Short term memory; spatial memory; Spontaneous alternation; Y-maze; Frontal cortex; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF); Dopamine transporter knockout (DAT KO) mouse; Y-maze; Central nervous system; Knockout mouse; Brain derived neurotrophic factor; Working memory; Protein; Encephalon; Spatial memory
• ISSN: 0014-2999; 1879-0712; 1879-0712
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2009.11.036

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), one of the key brain neurotrophins, has been implicated in neuronal plasticity and memory. Recent studies document the importance of BDNF for normal long-term memory functions. However, there are few studies of the roles of BDNF in short-term memory. Dopamine is likely to play important roles in BDNF gene expression in specific brain regions, including frontal cortical regions that are implicated in short-term working memory processes that include spontaneous alternation. We have thus tested spatial working memory in dopamine transporter knockout (DAT KO) and wild-type mice. Spontaneous alternation in the Y-maze, an index of short-term spatial working memory in mice, was significantly decreased in DAT KO mice compared to wild-type mice. BDNF protein was significantly decreased in frontal cortex, though not in striatum or hippocampus, of the DAT KO mice. The data support the hypothesis that impaired spatial working memory in DAT KO mice may be related to decreased frontal cortical BDNF in these animals, and document apparent roles for BDNF in a short-term memory process.