大鼠脑内caveolin-1蛋白的表达及其在分辨学习中的作用

Expression of caveolin-1 protein in the rat brain and its role in the discrimination learning

Caveolin-1(Cav-1)蛋白作为细胞质膜结构小窝(caveolae)的标志蛋白,在胆固醇运输、膜组装、信号转导和细胞转化过程中扮演重要的角色。为了探讨Cav-1蛋白在中枢神经系统可塑性及学习记忆中的作用,本文以Sprague-Dawley大鼠为实验对象,利用蛋白质免疫印迹杂交方法观察了Cav-1蛋白在不同年龄大鼠脑内表达的特征,并研究了Y-迷宫训练前后Cav-1蛋白表达的变化。结果表明:(1)大鼠不同脑区Cav-1蛋白表达的年龄特征不同。海马内的表达属青年鼠最高,其次是老年鼠和幼年鼠;皮层内的表达属幼年鼠最高,其次是老年鼠,青年鼠最低;小脑内的表达无明显年龄差异。(2)Y-迷宫训练引起青年鼠海马和前额叶皮层内Cav-1蛋白的表达显著增加。结果提示,Cav-1蛋白与动物脑发育和学习记忆有密切关系,可能参与中枢可塑性的调节。

Caveolin-1 （Cav-1） is a marker protein for caveolae, and acts as scaffolding protein to regulate the activities of signaling molecules. Previous studies indicate that Cav-1 mainly locates at the base of axonal and dendritic terminals of mouse primary hippocampal neurons and plays an active role in the regulation of injury-induced synaptic and terminal remodeling in central nervous system. The aim of this study was to identify the expression profile of Cav-1 protein in the brains of rats at different ages and to investigate the role of Cav-1 in Y-maze bright-dark discrimination learning （BDL）. Firstly, the expressions of Cav-1 in the brains of young （1-month）, adult （3-month） and aged （22-month） rats were observed by Western blot. Higher expression in the hippocampus and lower expression in the cortex were shown in the adult rats. It was also found that the score of BDL was related with the expression level of Cav- 1. Secondly, using open-field test for spontaneous locomotor activities （SLA） and BDL, the role of Cav- 1 in the learning and memory was observed. Compared with that in the control adult group, the Cav-1 protein expression in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of Y-maze trained adult rats significantly increased, while no marked changes in the cerebellum. These results suggest that Cav-1 protein is involved in BDL and plays an important role in the plasticity of central nervous system.