Amyloid β(Aβ)-induced synaptic and neuronal degeneration has been linked to the memory loss observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although Aβ-induced impairment of synaptic and nonsynaptic plasticity is known to occur before any cell death, the links between these neurophysiological changes and the loss of specific types of behavioural memory are not fully understood. This thesis introduces a behaviourally and physiologically tractable animal model to the Aβ field for the first time, allowing for an in-depth approach to investigating Aβ-induced memory loss to be explored. In Aβ 1-42- and Aβ 25-35-treated Lymnaea stagnalis, retrieval of consolidated memory is disrupted after single-trial conditioning and single-injection of synthetic peptide. All succeeding work builds upon these findings using a top-down approach to investigate how Aβ disrupts retrieval of consolidated memory. Neuronal and synaptic health were monitored over a 24 hour in vivo incubation period and other memory stages were considered to determine time points of memory vulnerability. In brains that displayed healthy neurons and degenerating synapses, only animals that were exposed to Aβ during the 24-48 hour post-training time points exhibited any behavioural deficits. All other behavioural responses remained normal. Focus then shifted to investigate the peptide, as opposed to behaviour, involved in the above mentioned experiments. After systemic injection, Aβ was found to penetrate the ganglia, enter cells, and localise to specific organelles by 24 hours exposure. Aβ morphology and structure were also monitored over the 24 hour incubation period, using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), formic acid extraction, silver stain, and western blot. A large distinction between the two peptides, Aβ 1-42 and Aβ 25-35, became apparent at this point and even when peptides were prepared using the same procedure, their effects on behaviour became drastically different. However, it is interesting to note that although the two peptides used are very different, under different preparation procedures they will both produce predominantly tetramer species after 24 hour in vivo incubation. Finally, investigations into disruptions of molecular signalling cascades were considered in order to correlate these disruptions to the observed Aβ-induced behavioural deficits. Specifically, molecular, pharmacological, and biochemical techniques were used to measure protein alterations and post-translational modifications, and to inhibit key protein components, involved in cAMP response element binding protein (CREB)-signalling pathways in Lymnaea brain after 24 hour in vivo incubation of Aβ. Phosphorylated CREB was found to be decreased in both Aβ-treated groups; this decrease pattern was also found in active protein kinase A (PKA) experiments. These experiments correlate memory deficits to Aβ-induced disruptions in PKA and CREB activity; however, PKA inhibition experiments indicate that this molecular cascade disruption is not sufficient to cause the observed behavioural deficits. Taken together, this work correlates Aβ-induced changes from a wide range of components involved in learning and memory, with Aβ-disrupted memory recall. Importantly as well, this work develops Lymnaea stagnalis as a novel model for Aβ research and continues to distinguish the two commonly used peptides, Aβ 1-42 and Aβ 25-35. By linking the effects of Aβ on defined neuronal circuits to behavioural deficits in a novel model, the Aβ field has been further developed in an important and unique way.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:665315 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Ford, Lenzie Katherine |
| Publisher | University of Sussex |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/56239/ |
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