Abstract
The abscisic acid (ABA) is a phytohormone involved in plant growth, development and environmental stress response. Recent study showed ABA can also be detected in other organisms, including mammals. And it has been reported that ABA can improve learning and memory in rats. In this study, we attempted to investigate the effects of ABA on the alternation of dendritic spine morphology of pyramidal neurons in developmental rats, which may underlie the learning and memory function. Behavior tests showed that ABA significantly improved spatial memory performance. Meanwhile, Golgi-Cox staining assay showed that ABA significantly increased the spine density and the percentage of mushroom-like spines in pyramidal neurons of hippocampus, indicating that ABA increased dendritic spine formation and maturation, which may contribute to the improvement of spatial memory. Furthermore, ABA administration increased the protein expression of NDR1/2 kinase, as well as mRNA levels of NDR2 and its substrate Rabin8. In addition, NDR1/2 shRNA prohibited the ABA-induced increases in the expression of NDR1/2 and spine density. Together, our study indicated that ABA could improve learning and memory in rats and the effect are possibly through the regulation of synaptogenesis, which is mediated via NDR1/2 kinase pathway.
Highlights
Abscisic acid ((2Z,4E)-5-[(1S)-1-hydroxy-2,6,6-trimethyl-4-oxocyclohex-2-en-1-yl]-3-methyl penta-2,4-dienoic acid, abscisic acid (ABA)) is an important phytohormone that regulates plant growth, development and environmental stress response (Li et al, 2000; Finkelstein, 2013)
They were subjected to Morris water maze (MWM) tests from PND56 to PND62. 3 days after the last MWM test, the rats were killed under deep anesthesia with CO2 and brains were cut into two hemispheres longitudinally; the right part was prepared for morphological staining, and the left one for special proteins expression measuring and real time fluorescence quantitative PCR assay
These results suggested the role of NDR1/2 kinase pathway in the process of regulating dendritic length and mushroom spine formation regulated by ABA
Summary
Abscisic acid ((2Z,4E)-5-[(1S)-1-hydroxy-2,6,6-trimethyl-4-oxocyclohex-2-en-1-yl]-3-methyl penta-2,4-dienoic acid, ABA) is an important phytohormone that regulates plant growth, development and environmental stress response (Li et al, 2000; Finkelstein, 2013). ABA proved to be secreted and active in mammals, where it stimulates the activity of innate immune cells, stem cells, insulin-releasing pancreatic β-cells, and serves as an endogenous hormone (Bruzzone et al, 2008, 2012; Scarfi et al, 2008; Magnone et al, 2009). It holds promises as nutraceutical plant-derived compound which show potentially beneficial effects in human (De Flora et al, 2014). Retinoic acid (Vershinin, 1999; Nambara and Marion-Poll, 2005) as well as ABA (Qi et al, 2015; Naderi et al, 2017) has been reported to improve learning and memory and anxiety-like behavior
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