TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of 7-nitroindazole, a selective neural nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, on context-shock associative learning in a two-process contextual fear conditioning paradigm
AU - Chen, Weihai
AU - Yan, Minmin
AU - Wang, Yan
AU - Wang, Xiaqing
AU - Yuan, Jiajin
AU - Li, Ming
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 81302757 ), and the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China ( 2012M521662 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2016/10/1
Y1 - 2016/10/1
N2 - Nitric oxide (NO) is an important retrograde neuronal intracellular messenger which plays an important role in synaptic plasticity and is involved in learning and memory. However, evidence that NO is particularly important for the acquisition of contextual fear conditioning is mixed. Also, little is known about at which stages of the contextual fear conditioning does NO make its contribution. In the present study, we used 7-nitroindazole to temporarily inhibit neural nitric oxide synthase at either the pre-exposure stage or conditioning stage in a two-process paradigm and examined the potential contribution that NO makes to the contextually conditioned fear. Results showed that the expression of contextual fear memory was significantly impaired in rats treated with 7-nitroindazole (30 mg/kg, i.p.) prior to the pairing of context-shock (p = 0.034, n = 8), but not after the conditioning phase (p = 0.846, n = 8). In addition, the expression of contextual fear memory and reconsolidation was not significantly impaired by 7-nitroindazole administered prior to the context pre-exposure stage or prior to another context-shock learning. These findings suggest that NO is specifically involved in the acquisition but not the consolidation, retrieval or reconsolidation of contextual fear memory.
AB - Nitric oxide (NO) is an important retrograde neuronal intracellular messenger which plays an important role in synaptic plasticity and is involved in learning and memory. However, evidence that NO is particularly important for the acquisition of contextual fear conditioning is mixed. Also, little is known about at which stages of the contextual fear conditioning does NO make its contribution. In the present study, we used 7-nitroindazole to temporarily inhibit neural nitric oxide synthase at either the pre-exposure stage or conditioning stage in a two-process paradigm and examined the potential contribution that NO makes to the contextually conditioned fear. Results showed that the expression of contextual fear memory was significantly impaired in rats treated with 7-nitroindazole (30 mg/kg, i.p.) prior to the pairing of context-shock (p = 0.034, n = 8), but not after the conditioning phase (p = 0.846, n = 8). In addition, the expression of contextual fear memory and reconsolidation was not significantly impaired by 7-nitroindazole administered prior to the context pre-exposure stage or prior to another context-shock learning. These findings suggest that NO is specifically involved in the acquisition but not the consolidation, retrieval or reconsolidation of contextual fear memory.
KW - 7-Nitroindazole
KW - Nitric oxide
KW - Nitric oxide synthase
KW - Two-process contextual fear conditioning
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U2 - 10.1016/j.nlm.2016.07.033
DO - 10.1016/j.nlm.2016.07.033
M3 - Article
C2 - 27481222
AN - SCOPUS:84991094135
SN - 1074-7427
VL - 134
SP - 287
EP - 293
JO - Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
JF - Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
ER -