Extracellular Cytosolic Aspartate Aminotransferase Promotes Axonal Growth and Object Recognition Memory

Ryo Kobayashi, Chihiro Tohda*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Previous proteome analysis studies from other groups have shown that cAST might be secreted from neurons and that cAST was detected in human cerebrospinal fluid. However, none of these studies focused on its role or significance. We therefore investigated the role of extracellular cAST for neurons. cAST was detected in conditioned medium from cultured cortical neurons, but not in fresh medium. Recombinant cAST treatment of cortical neurons significantly extended axonal length. Continuous intracerebroventricular administration of recombinant cAST in normal mice for 14 days significantly enhanced object recognition ability. In the brains of those mice, axonal densities and c-Fos expression levels were enhanced, especially in the perirhinal cortex, which mainly relates to object recognition memory. The present study found, for the first time, that extracellular cAST promoted axonal growth function in neurons and activated memory function. These findings indicate a new function of extracellular cAST and may drive the establishment of new therapeutic strategies for cognitive dysfunction. The present study found, for the first time, that extracellular cAST promotes axonal growth in neurons.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3465-3473
Number of pages9
JournalNeurochemical Research
Volume42
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017/12/01

Keywords

  • Axonal growth
  • Object recognition memory
  • cAST

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

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