The Study Of Potassium Channel Subunits Expression In The Central Nervous System Of Memory Deficient Rats

Dementia is a symptom characteristic of learning and memory deficiency. Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VD) are the most common types of dementia. AD is a progressive neurodegenerative disease whose cause is not clear yet. The accumulation of beta-amyloid is widely accepted as a central etiological process. All known mutants that cause AD are followed by beta-amyloid producing significantly. The key part of beta-amyloid is its residue of 25-35 (Aβ_25-35), which can aggregate into fibril in vivo and in vitro. When Aβ_25-35 forms in beta-sheet, it has neurotoxic effect. VD is a dementia caused by cerebral vascular insults. The decrease of brain blood flow is one of the pathological factors that cause VD. When the blood flow decreased in the areas associated with learning and memory, learning and memory deficiency might occur. Potassium channels play a pivotal role in learning and memory, and they are increasingly being elucidated as molecular targets and drug targets in a number of pathophysiological states. Unraveling precise in situ channel combinations, localization, and channel regulation in disease pathologies could shed light on developing better therapeutic strategies. Our study used two animal models to mimic the main dementia type (Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia), and studied expression levels of some important potassium channel subunits. The results are as follows:...