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Identifier

000412832

Title

Ο ρόλος του εκλυτικού παράγοντα της κορτικοτροπίνης στη συναπτική πλαστικότητα του προμετωπιαίου φλοιού

Alternative Title

The role of the corticotropin releasing factor in the synaptic plasticity of the prefrontal cortex.

Author

Βέλλη, Αγγελική Α.

Thesis advisor

Σιδηροπούλου Κυριακή

Reviewer

Παυλίδης, Μιχαήλ
Χαραλαμπόπουλος, Ιωάννης

Abstract

Prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a brain region of great importance implicated in modulating and controlling cognitive functions and behaviour. Serious deficits in PFC function are associated with fundamental elements of schizophrenia, while a combination of genetic and environmental factors contributes to the manifestation of symptoms that exhibit intense sex differentiation. Stressful environmental stimuli directly affect brain function and may be related to the cause of the disorder. Stress response involves the release of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) from the hypothalamus and appears to exhibit significant differences between female and male individuals. Aim of this study, was to investigate the effect of CRF on physiology of PFC, namely on long-term synaptic potentiation (LTP), in adult female and male mice as well as in female and male mice of the MAM neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia. Electrophysiological recordings were performed in layer II of PFC in brain slices in the presence or absence of a-Helical CRF9-41, a CRF receptor antagonist, as well as in brain slices of female MAM and control mice that had undergone chronic administration of the CRFR1 antagonist, antalarmin. The presence of a-Helical CRF9-41 reduced the rate of potentiation of synapses in male mice, while causing an increasing tendency in females. Variations were observed in synaptic potentiation between the two sexes. Specifically, it appears that LTP is diminished in male MAM-mice compared to control mice, as opposed to female-MAM mice, that showed no differences. Chronic administration of antalarmin on control female mice significantly increased the levels of synaptic potentiation, while in MAM-female mice it prevented the emergence of synaptic plasticity. Activation of CRF receptors appears to have a sexually dimorphic effect on PFC, which may support the observed differences between sexes in response to stress and in the manifestation of stress-related disorders, such as schizophrenia.

Language

Greek

Subject

Male/female mice

Schizophrenia

Stress

Synaptic plasticity

Αρσενικοί/θηλυκοί μύες

Πλαστικότητα

Προμετωπιαίος φλοιός

Στρες

Σχιζοφρένεια