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Prenatal Stress Impairs Spatial Learning and Memory Associated with Lower mRNA Level of the CAMKII and CREB in the Adult Female Rat Hippocampus

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Abstract

Prenatal stress (PS) results in various behavioral and emotional alterations observed in later life. In particular, PS impairs spatial learning and memory processes but the underlying mechanism involved in this pathogenesis still remains unknown. Here, we reported that PS lowered the body weight in offspring rats, particularly in female rats, and impaired spatial learning and memory of female offspring rats in the Morris water maze. Correspondingly, the decreased CaMKII and CREB mRNA in the hippocampus were detected in prenatally stressed female offspring, which partially explained the effect of PS on the spatial learning and memory. Our findings suggested that CaMKII and CREB may be involved in spatial learning and memory processes in the prenatally stressed adult female offspring.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Hospital-level Grant of Affiliated Children’s Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University (No. 2015C02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shaanxi Institute of Pediatric Diseases, Affiliated Children’s Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 86-710003, People’s Republic of China

    Hongli Sun

  2. Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an, 86-710061, People’s Republic of China

    Hongli Sun

  3. Department of PICU, Affiliated Children’s Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 86-710003, People’s Republic of China

    Haibin Wu

  4. Department of Neonatology, Affiliated Children’s Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 86-710003, People’s Republic of China

    Jianping Liu & Hui Li

  5. Department of Neonatology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 86-710061, People’s Republic of China

    Jun Wen & Hui Li

  6. College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Province Biomedicine Key Laboratory, Northwest University, Shaanxi, 86-710069, People’s Republic of China

    Zhongliang Zhu

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  1. Hongli Sun
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Correspondence to Hui Li.

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Sun, H., Wu, H., Liu, J. et al. Prenatal Stress Impairs Spatial Learning and Memory Associated with Lower mRNA Level of the CAMKII and CREB in the Adult Female Rat Hippocampus. Neurochem Res 42, 1496–1503 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-017-2206-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-017-2206-z

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