Synaptosomal protein synthesis is selectively modulated by learning

Synaptosomes from rat brain have long been used to investigate the properties of synaptic protein synthesis. Comparable analyses have now been made in adult male rats trained for a two-way active avoidance task to examine the hypothesis of its direct participation in brain plastic events. Using Ficoll-purified synaptosomes from neocortex, hippocampus and cerebellum, our data indicate that the capacity of synaptosomal protein synthesis and the specific activity of newly synthesized proteins were not different in trained rats in comparison with home-caged control rats. On the other hand, the synthesis of two proteins of 66.5 kDa and 87.6 kDa separated by SDS-PAGE and analyzed by quantitative densitometry was selectively enhanced in trained rats. In addition, the synthesis of the 66.5 kDa protein, but not of the 87.6 kDa protein, correlated with avoidances and escapes and inversely correlated with freezings in the neocortex, while in the cerebellum it correlated with avoidances and escapes. The data demonstrate the participation of synaptic protein synthesis in plastic events of behaving rats, and the selective, region-specific modulation of the synthesis of a synaptic 66.5 kDa protein by the newly acquired avoidance response and by the reprogramming of innate neural circuits subserving escape and freezing responses.