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Brambilla, R. et al.

A role for the Ras signalling pathway in synaptic transmission and long-term memory.

Members of the Ras subfamily of small guanine-nucleotide-binding proteins are essential for controlling normal and malignant cell proliferation as well as cell differentiation. The neuronal-specific guanine-nucleotide-exchange factor, Ras-GRF/CDC25Mm, induces Ras signalling in response to Ca2+ influx and activation of G-protein-coupled receptors in vitro, suggesting that it plays a role in neurotransmission and plasticity in vivo. Here we report that mice lacking Ras-GRF are impaired in the process of memory consolidation, as revealed by emotional conditioning tasks that require the function of the amygdala; learning and short-term memory are intact. Electrophysiological measurements in the basolateral amygdala reveal that long-term plasticity is abnormal in mutant mice. In contrast, Ras-GRF mutants do not reveal major deficits in spatial learning tasks such as the Morris water maze, a test that requires hippocampal function. Consistent with apparently normal hippocampal functions, Ras-GRF mutants show normal NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor-dependent long-term potentiation in this structure. These results implicate Ras-GRF signalling via the Ras/MAP kinase pathway in synaptic events leading to formation of long-term memories.[1]

References

A role for the Ras signalling pathway in synaptic transmission and long-term memory. Brambilla, R., Gnesutta, N., Minichiello, L., White, G., Roylance, A.J., Herron, C.E., Ramsey, M., Wolfer, D.P., Cestari, V., Rossi-Arnaud, C., Grant, S.G., Chapman, P.F., Lipp, H.P., Sturani, E., Klein, R. Nature (1997) [Pubmed]

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