PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lorena Saavedra-Rodríguez
AU  - Adrinel Vázquez
AU  - Humberto G. Ortiz-Zuazaga
AU  - Nataliya E. Chorna
AU  - Fernando A. González
AU  - Lissette Andrés
AU  - Karen Rodríguez
AU  - Fernando Ramírez
AU  - Alan Rodríguez
AU  - Sandra Peña de Ortiz
TI  - Identification of Flap Structure-Specific Endonuclease 1 as a Factor Involved in Long-Term Memory Formation of Aversive Learning
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4033-08.2009
DP  - 2009 May 06
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 5726--5737
VI  - 29
IP  - 18
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/29/18/5726.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/29/18/5726.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.2009 May 06; 29
AB  - We previously proposed that DNA recombination/repair processes play a role in memory formation. Here, we examined the possible role of the fen-1 gene, encoding a flap structure-specific endonuclease, in memory consolidation of conditioned taste aversion (CTA). Quantitative real-time PCR showed that amygdalar fen-1 mRNA induction was associated to the central processing of the illness experience related to CTA and to CTA itself, but not to the central processing resulting from the presentation of a novel flavor. CTA also increased expression of the Fen-1 protein in the amygdala, but not the insular cortex. In addition, double immunofluorescence analyses showed that amygdalar Fen-1 expression is mostly localized within neurons. Importantly, functional studies demonstrated that amygdalar antisense knockdown of fen-1 expression impaired consolidation, but not short-term memory, of CTA. Overall, these studies define the fen-1 endonuclease as a new DNA recombination/repair factor involved in the formation of long-term memories.