Marianna Pintér 
| Molecular genetics in neuroscience emerged when a failure in cognitive behaviour was identified in Drosophila mutants for the cAMP phosphodiesterase enzyme. Molecular mechanisms necessary for associative learning were first identified in Aplysia and Hermissenda providing PKA and PKC driven phosphorylation, central in the molecular models. Molecular profiling of long-term memory has also been performed first with Aplysia abdominal ganglia and identified four newly synthetized proteins during an elementary form of learning. Identification of these proteins could not happen at the time due to technical restrictions. Current-day molecular profiling is utilizing molecular genetics and readily provides the identity of a differentially expressed transcript. Our long-term goal is to combine behavioural, cellular and molecular data that are acquired in one insect animal model that is available for all of these disciplines. For our studies we chose Periplaneta americana. This insect has a complex behavioral repertoire and resilience to physiological manipulation. These characteristics make Periplaneta a strong candidate for a model organism for learning and memory comparatively. |
| A unique feature of Periplaneta is that memory consolidation can be dissected in a behavioural paradigm (Lent et al., 2002). To identify changes in gene expression during the consolidation phase of memory we employed subtractive hybridization to enrich transcripts that are either overexpressed or suppressed in the brain of Periplaneta. This comparative molecular genetic screen has become popular and successful in brain research. Both neurobiologically relevant and novel Periplaneta genes were identified in our screen as differentially expressed at the consolidation phase of memory. Among these genes several have already established their relationships with neurological phenotypes such as Leigh Syndrome, encephalopathy NARP (neuropathy, ataxia, and retinitis pigmentosa) and bilateral striatal necrosis (Pintér et al., 2002). |
| A sophisticated version of the visual-olfactory learning paradigm for Periplaneta entails surgically split brains (Lent et al., 2002). Insects are trained unilaterally, using one side of the brain, leaving the other side to serve as a control. We have started to characterize trained split brain animals in molecular assays. The split brain studies should minimize baseline differences that would otherwise be encountered when comparing two animals, each of which, by definition, has had unique individual experiences. |
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marianna@u.arizona.edu Home | |