Selection and evaluation of proteins and fundamental mechanisms for the formation of long-term memory

• Grant number: 22/10950-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: April 01, 2023
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry
• Principal Investigator: Alexander Henning Ulrich
• Grantee: Guilherme de Araujo Juvenal
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/07366-4 - Purine and kinin receptors as targets of study and therapeutic interventions in neurological diseases, AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/22231-9 - Electrophysiological and proteomic characterization of engram neurons and the role of CDC37 during memory formation, BE.EP.DD

Abstract

Human memory is characterized as a higher cognitive process and is responsible for classifying, encoding, storing, and retrieving information. Many of the cellular and molecular processes related to memory are already known. However, the formation mechanism is still not completely elucidated. Protein synthesis and interaction dynamics between them, in the hippocampus, are essential for memory formation. Therefore, in the current project will be performed an analysis of protein interaction graphs to select possible targets and fundamental mechanisms for memory formation. The targets selected in these tests will be identified, quantified, and modulated in vitro using the HT22 murine neuron lineage, and mapped in vivo by immunohistochemistry in the hippocampal tissue of Sprague-Dawley rats. Subsequently, proteins that have promising results will be modulated in vivo and their ability to alter memory formation will be evaluated through behavioral tests in Sprague-Dawley rats. The resulting data will be used to model a neural graph, by imaging the variation of intracellular calcium concentration in HT22 cultures. A structural and comparative study of these graphs will be carried out to identify fundamental properties for forming long-term memory. We understand that the identification and mapping of proteins and processes and the characterization of the structure of hippocampal neuronal networks, highlighted in memory formation, can contribute to the understanding of this cognitive process and to the understanding of its impairment in neurodegenerative diseases. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

JUVENAL, GUILHERME; MEINERZ, CARINE; AYUPE, ANA CAROLINA; CAMPOS, HENRIQUE CORREIA; REIS, EDUARDO MORAES; LONGO, BEATRIZ MONTEIRO; PILLAT, MICHELI MAINARDI; ULRICH, HENNING. Bradykinin promotes immune responses in differentiated embryonic neurospheres carrying APP^swe and PS1^dE9 mutations. CELL AND BIOSCIENCE, v. 14, n. 1, p. 19-pg., 2024-06-18. (18/07366-4, 22/10950-5)

JUVENAL, GUILHERME; HIGA, GUILHERME SHIGUETO VILAR; BONFIM MARQUES, LUCAS; TESSARI ZAMPIERI, THAIS; COSTA VIANA, FELIPE JOSE; BRITTO, LUIZ R.; TANG, YONG; ILLES, PETER; DI VIRGILIO, FRANCESCO; ULRICH, HENNING; et al. Regulation of GABAergic neurotransmission by purinergic receptors in brain physiology and disease. PURINERGIC SIGNALLING, v. N/A, p. 29-pg., 2024-07-24. (22/00850-3, 22/09277-4, 18/07366-4, 22/10950-5)