MEDTHODS FOR IMPROVING LONG-TERM MEMORY STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL

• Main Authors: WINDER DANNY G, BACH MARY ELIZABETH, MANSUY ISABELLE M, MAYFORD MARK, KANDEL ERIC R
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 12.09.2002
• Edition: 7
• Subjects: AGRICULTURE; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; BEER; BIOCHEMISTRY; CARE OF BIRDS, FISHES, INSECTS; CHEMISTRY; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; CULTURE MEDIA; ENZYMOLOGY; FISHING; FORESTRY; HUMAN NECESSITIES; HUNTING; HYGIENE; INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIRCHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; MEASURING; MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; METALLURGY; MICROBIOLOGY; MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS; PHYSICS; PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL, OR TOILET PURPOSES; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS ORMEDICINAL PREPARATIONS; SPIRITS; TESTING; TRAPPING; VINEGAR; WINE

The present invention provides for a transgenic nonhuman mammal whose germ or somatic cells contain a nucleic acid molecule which encodes calcineurin or a variant thereof under the control of a regulatable promoter, introduced into the mammal, or an ancestor thereof, at an embryonic stage. The present invention also provides for a method of evaluating whether a compound is effective in improving long-term memory in a subject suffering from impaired long-term memory which comprises: (a) administering the compound to the transgenic nonhuman mammal of claim 1 wherein the mammal has increased brain-specific calcineurin activity due to expression of the nucleic acid, and (b) comparing the long-term memory of the mammal in step (a) with the long-term memory of the mammal in the absence of the compound so as to determine whether the compound is effective in rescuing the long-term memory defect in the subject.