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Cognitive Decline of Rats with Chronic Fluorosis Is Associated with Alterations in Hippocampal Calpain Signaling.Abstract
The study was designed to evaluate an influence of excessive fluoride (F–) intake on cognitive capacities of adult rats and on proteins of memory-related calpain signaling in hippocampus. Control animals were given water with natural F– content of 0.4 ppm; rats from other groups consumed the same water supplemented with 5, 20, and 50 ppm F– (as NaF) for 12 months. The efficiency of learning and memory formation was evaluated by novel object recognition (NOR) and Morris water maze tests. The expression of enzymes of calpain-1 and calpain-2 signaling in hippocampus was detected by Western blotting. Excessive F– consumption had moderate impact on short-term memory, but impaired spatial learning and long-term memory of animals. Intoxication of rats with 5-50 ppm F– led to stimulation of calpain-1 in hippocampal cells and its translocation from cytosol to membranes, accompanied by activation of GTPase RhoA. Exposure to 20-50 ppm F– resulted in proteolytic cleavage of phosphatase PHLPP1 and increased expression of phospho-ERK1/2 kinase with insignificant decline of total ERK1/2 activity. In contrast, F– did not change the expression of calpain-2 and its substrates-phosphatase PTEN and kinase mTOR. However, F– intake led to downregulation of cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Thus, altered expression of calpain-1 and its downstream effectors at a background of stable activity of calpain-2 indicates overstimulation of signaling pathways of early LTP phase and disrupted link between early and late LTP phases, most probably due to altered activity of transcriptional and neurotrophic factors.