Kynurenic acid accumulation underlies learning and memory impairment associated with aging.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Vohra M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5828390 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Kynurenic acid accumulation underlies learning and memory impairment associated with aging.
Vohra Mihir M Lemieux George A GA Lin Lin L Ashrafi Kaveh K
Genes & development 20180131 1
A general feature of animal aging is decline in learning and memory. Here we show that in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>, a significant portion of this decline is due to accumulation of kynurenic acid (KYNA), an endogenous antagonist of neural N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs). We show that activation of a specific pair of interneurons either through genetic means or by depletion of KYNA significantly improves learning capacity in aged animals even when the intervention is applied in aging ...[more]
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