Press Releases
LEARNING AND MEMORY GENES
IDENTIFIED BY BLANCHETTE ROCKEFELLER
NEUROSCIENCES INSTITUTE
November 25, 2002
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI) scientists and scientists at NeuroLogic, Inc. have identified memory genes which someday might yield targets for "brain-boosting" therapies to improve learning and memory. Using cDNA array technology, Visiting Associate Professor Sebastiano Cavallaro and colleagues surveyed the learning-induced changes in gene expression in rat hippocampus, the brain region important in learning and memory. The findings were reported in the November 26 issue of PNAS.
Although sure to be just the tip of the iceberg, these results indicated distinct genes associated with learning and memory. They could point researchers towards new therapies which may improve learning and memory, under normal conditions as well as in disorders that affect cognitive functioning, such as Alzheimer's disease.
After putting rats through a standard learning task, the researchers analyzed gene expression in hippocampal tissue from the rats at different time points after testing (one, six, and 24 hours). It was determined that learning altered 30 genes. One gene, Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF)-18, was increased at all time points during learning. Furthermore, in an exciting experiment, the researchers found that injecting FGF-18 into the rat's brain during testing significantly improved learning.
Past efforts to identify memory-related genes have only been able to screen a small number of genes at any one time, making it difficult to determine just how many genes are involved in learning and memory and how they interact during memory formation.
The article, "Memory specific temporal profiles of gene expression in the hippocampus," is also available on the PNAS web site, www.pnas.org. PNAS, published by the National Academy of Sciences, is one of the world's most-cited multidisciplinary scientific serials. Dr. Cavallaro received his M.D. from the University of Catania, Italy, and his Ph.D. from Georgetown University. On sabbatical leave from the Italian National Research Council, Dr. Cavallaro joined the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute in October of 2000. As the only non-profit institute with a dedicated study of human memory, BRNI partners West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.Va., and Johns Hopkins University in Rockville, Md.
Assisting in the research were Dr. Velia D'Agata, Dr. Pachiappan Manickam, Dr. Franck Dufour, and Dr. Daniel L. Alkon.
More information about the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute is available at www.brni.org.