Avaliação da sinalização glutamatérgica ao longo do desenvolvimento do peixe-zebra (Danio rerio) e suas implicações comportamentais e motoras

• Autor(a) principal: Menezes, Fabiano Peres
• Data de Publicação: 2014
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da PUC_RS
• Texto Completo: http://tede2.pucrs.br/tede2/handle/tede/5490
• topic: BIOLOGIA CELULAR; BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR; PEIXES - PESQUISAS; EXPERIMENTAÇÃO ANIMAL; CNPQ::CIENCIAS BIOLOGICAS::BIOQUIMICA::BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR

Disturbances in glutamatergic signaling have been proposed as the cause of many diseases of the nervous system. The zebrafish has been considered as an efficient model in the investigation of the neurochemical basis of various disorders, such as schizophrenia and epilepsy. Several neurotransmitter systems have been characterized in zebrafish, including the glutamatergic system. Moreover, a vast repertoire of behavioral responses to drugs has been characterized in particular in adults. However, little information is available about the ability to generate response to classic drugs of glutamatergic action in the early stages of development in zebrafish. Throughout development, ionotropic glutamate receptors have an orderly variability between the subunits that compose them, giving them different pharmacokinetic properties and degree of affinity for their ligands. In this way, we analyzed the locomotor/behavioral profile of zebrafish in response to the glutamate receptor antagonist, MK-801, in different doses in 30, 60, 120 days post-fertilization (dpf) and 2 years post-fertilization animals, as well the effect of caffeine pre-exposure on MK-801 action. Additionally, we analyzed the expression profile of subunits that comprise the NMDA receptor in whole brain of zebrafish during development. Locomotor/behavioral response to kainic acid (KA) was evaluated in different doses at ages 7, 15 and 30 dpf. Also, the pre-exposure to kainic acid in 24 hours post-fertilization (hpf) and 7 and 15 dpf animals was challenged by a second exposure to kainic acid at 2 months post-fertilization The results demonstrated that zebrafish has an age-dependent response to MK-801 and kainic acid, at least on the locomotor/behavior aspects. The peak of locomotor response to MK-801 occurred at 60-120 days post-fertilization, which was partially prevented by caffeine and able to alter the time on upper zone of aquarium as a measure of anxiety. Analysis of gene expression of NMDA receptor subunits in zebrafish brain demonstrated that NR2C and NR2D subunits have later expression in comparison to subunits NR1, NR2A and NR2B. The animals that were exposed to KA showed alterations in locomotor activity without displaying classic convulsive characteristics. However, pre- exposure to 7dpf KA was able to partially prevent the seizure events in response to KA injection (6 mg / K) at 2 months post- fertilization.