The Role of DNA Methylation and Activity of Neurotransmitter Receptors in the Mechanisms of Specific Anterograde Amnesia and Memory Recovery

• Published in: Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine Vol. 172; no. 5; pp. 528 - 533
• Main Authors: Solntseva, S. V., Nikitin, V. P., Kozyrev, S. A., Nikitin, P. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.03.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Amnesia; Animal memory; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cell Biology; Demethylation; DNA; DNA methylation; DNA methyltransferase; Food aversion; Gene silencing; Glutamate; Glutamic acid receptors; Glutamic acid receptors (ionotropic); Internal Medicine; Laboratory Medicine; Long term memory; Methylation; N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid receptors; Neurotransmitter receptors; Pathology; neurotransmitter receptors; DNA methyltransferase; anterograde amnesia; memory recovery; memory reconsolidation
• ISSN: 0007-4888; 1573-8221
• DOI: 10.1007/s10517-022-05426-1

Impairment of reconsolidation of conditioned food aversion memory led to the development of a specific anterograde amnesia: repeated training of amnestic snails did not induce long-term memory formation. DNA demethylation caused by injections of DNA methyltransferase inhibitor (DNAMT) during repeated training led to long-term memory formation. Injections of an NMDA glutamate receptor antagonist or a serotonin receptor antagonist prevented memory formation induced by administration of DNAMT inhibitor and repeated training. We hypothesize that methylation-dependent repression of neuronal genes underlies anterograde amnesia. Demethylation eliminated the blockade of these genes and created conditions for long-term memory formation, the induction mechanisms of which involve neurotransmitter receptors.