Abstract
Fasting facilitates synaptic plasticity and promotes learning consolidation. However, cellular signaling mechanisms underlying the effect of fasting on memory consolidation are not completely understood. We investigated the effect of fasting on the hippocampal neuron by testing the hypothesis of whether fasting promoted phosphorylation of CREB (c‐AMP response element binding protein), an important nuclear protein to consolidate memories by inducing gene expression. We used in vivo rat model of fasting and applied anti‐phospho‐CREB (Ser133) raised in the rabbit to cardially‐perfused rat brain sections (40 μm thick). The cell layer of CA1 hippocampal subfield in fasted animals exhibited strong expression of phosphorylated CREB (pCREB). As reported previously, the hypothalamus was also strongly immunoreactive and provided a positive control in the present study. Our finding suggests fasting may stimulate cAMP‐dependent signaling cascades in the hippocampal CA1 neuron. A molecule involved in and responsible for the activation of this signaling process is currently under the investigation. Supported by NIH grants R15DA021683 and SC1GM081179 (to MI). NME is an American Physiological Society Undergraduate Summer Research Fellow in 2008.
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