P11, a Biomarker for Memory Retrieval: A Possible Role in Traumatic Stress
Abstract
Pre-clinical and clinical studies have shown the important role of p11 in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (Zhang 2008, 2009. CSTS, News From the Center, 2008; CSTS, 2008 Annual Report; Army Psychiatric News Oct 2, 2009; Military Medical News, 2012: http://www.militarymedical.com/?p=1838; and The Official USU Newsletter Volume 7, Issue 6 www.usuhs, 2012 ). P11, also known as S100A10, is a protein encoded by the S100A10 gene in humans and is a member of the S100 family of proteins containing two EF-hand calcium-binding motifs, which are localized in the cytoplasm and/or nucleus in a wide range of cells (Santamaria-Kisiel et al., 2006). P11 is associated with both depression (Svenningsson et al., 2006) and PTSD (Zhang et al., 2008; Su et al., 2009). The evidence from animal studies supports the view that stress influences learning and memory (de Quervain et al., 1998) and increases p11 expression in the brain (Zhang et al., 2008). The most common characteristic of PTSD is the reexperiencing syndrome, wherein the patient's memory seems to be fixed on a traumatic event such that the processing of non-trauma-related memories is often impaired. Therefore, these results led us to hypothesize that p11 might play an important role in memory. It is found that footshock given 30 minutes before memory testing impaired rats retention performance in a water-maze spatial task, compared to non-stressed controls. This impaired retention performance corresponded to the levels of circulating corticosterone at the time of retention testing. In addition, the stress-induced retention impairment was blocked by metyrapone, a synthetic inhibitor of corticosterone. Furthermore, systemic corticosterone administered to non-stressed rats 30 min before retention testing induced dose-dependent retention impairment (de Quervain et al., 1998). Finally, glucocorticoid increases p11 expression in vitro through glucocorticoid response element sites in the p11 gene promoter.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA580086
Entities
People
- Lei Zhang
Organizations
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine