A biochemical difference between recent and remote long lasting memory.

What is it about?

For a memory to be reconsolidated after its retrieval, it requires the functioning od L-type voltage-dependent calcium channels, whereby calcium cations flow into the neuron and activates many enzimatic targets. Among these targets there is the enzime calcium-calmoduline kinase II (CaMKII), a kinase known to be able to phosphorylate itself and this way persist a long time phosphorylated after the firts stimulus. At this work we showed that a remote, but not a recent, spatial reconsolidated memory requires the activation of CaMKII right after the moment of retrieval. Also, we shown that this CaMKII activation dependence of remote long lasting memory maintenance depends on intracellular protein turnover, inasmuch as this dependence was not verified if the proteosome system and CaMKII was concurrently inhibited right after the retrieval of that spatial memory. Therefore, this work suggests that the CaMKII effect on the maintenance of a reconsolidated spatial memory involves the regulation of intracelular protein turnover.

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Why is it important?

To our best knowledge, this was the first time that a biochemical difference between recent and remote long lasting memory was demonstraded.

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