Altered Adult Hippocampal Structural and Functional Plasticity in the YAC128 Transgenic Mouse Model of Huntington Disease
Date
2013-09-30
Authors
Simpson, Jessica M.
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Abstract
Alterations in both structural and synaptic plasticity in the adult brain have been
implicated in impaired learning and memory. In the present study, we investigated if
hippocampal plasticity is affected in the transgenic YAC128 mouse model of Huntington
disease (HD). Reductions in adult hippocampal neurogenesis were observed in the
dentate gyrus (DG) of early symptomatic to end-stage mice compared with wild-type
(WT) controls, however there were no changes in cell proliferation and differentiation in
the subventricular zone. Early symptomatic mice also displayed attenuated paired-pulse
plasticity and long-term depression in the DG, while long-term potentiation was found to
be normal in YAC128 mice. The changes in hippocampal plasticity may contribute to the
cognitive abnormalities observed in these animals.
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Keywords
Huntington's chorea, Hippocampus