Critical role of nitric oxide-cGMP cascade in the formation of cAMP-dependent long-term memory

Abstract

Cyclic AMP pathway plays an essential role in formation of long-term memory (LTM). In some species, the nitric oxide (NO)-cyclic GMP pathway has been found to act in parallel and complementary to the cAMP pathway for LTM formation. Here we describe a new role of the NO-cGMP pathway, namely, stimulation of the cAMP pathway to induce LTM. We have studied the signaling cascade underlying LTM formation by systematically coinjecting various “LTM-inducing” and “LTM-blocking” drugs in crickets. Multiple-trial olfactory conditioning led to LTM that lasted for several days, while memory induced by single-trial conditioning decayed away within several hours. Injection of inhibitors of the enzyme forming NO, cGMP, or cAMP into the hemolymph prior to multiple-trial conditioning blocked LTM, whereas injection of an NO donor, cGMP analog, or cAMP analog prior to single-trial conditioning induced LTM. Induction of LTM by injection of an NO donor or cGMP analog paired with single-trial conditioning was blocked by inhibitors of the cAMP pathway, but induction of LTM by a cAMP analog was unaffected by inhibitors of the NO-cGMP pathway. Inhibitors of cyclic nucleotide-gated channel (CNG channel) or calmodulin-blocked induction of LTM by cGMP analog paired with single-trial conditioning, but they did not affect induction of LTM by cAMP analog. Our findings suggest that the cAMP pathway is a downstream target of the NO-cGMP pathway for the formation of LTM, and that the CNG channel and calcium-calmodulin intervene between the NO-cGMP pathway and the cAMP pathway.