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Abstract:

Glutamatergic neurotransmission and its concomitant signaling pathways play a crucial part in the molecular processes that underlie learning and memory. Mutant mice with defects in different elements of the glutamatergic signaling process were investigated using behavioural and electrophysiological procedures. Several knockout mice with targeted deletion of group III metabotropic glutamate receptor were tested in different hippocampus-dependent spatial and visual discrimination tasks. It was shown that such complex tasks depend on specific subtypes of group III mGluRs, whereas other such receptors do not influence these cognitive processes. Finally, Spred1 knockout mice with hyperactivation of the MAPK signaling pathway were examined in spatial and visual discrimination tasks and displayed alterations in learning and memory measures. It was shown that hippocampal long-term potentiation and depression of synaptic transmission were impaired in these mice, which was reversed by inhibition of the MAPK pathway. There findings illustrate the involvement of various molecular components of glutamatergic neurotransmission/signaling process