Identification and Characterization of the V(D)J Recombination Activating Gene 1 in Long-Term Memory of Context Fear Conditioning

Figure 1

Context fear conditioning induced upregulation of RAG1 mRNA in the amygdala. RAG1 mRNA levels were measured in the hippocampus and the amygdala on a time course at 15 min, 30 min, and 1 h after conditioning. (a) Normalized mRNA data showed no significant differences when examining hippocampal RAG1 mRNA Naïve (N) or the conditioned (C) groups sacrificed at 15, 30, or 60 min after training. (b) In contrast, context fear conditioning results in a significant, rapid, and transient induction in RAG1 mRNA levels in the amygdala (Naïve versus C15 min, ; Naïve versus C30 min, ; Naïve versus C60 min, ; C60 min versus C30 min, ; and C60 min versus C15 min, ). (c) We sacrificed animals from the conditioned (C), CO, or SO groups 15 min after their respective associative or nonassociative training. Normalized expression confirmed the significant induction at 15 min of amygdalar RAG1 mRNA after context fear conditioning compared to Naïve, CO, and SO groups and showed no statistical difference between Naïve, CO, or SO controls (SO15 min versus C15 min, ; SO15 min versus Naive, ; SO15 min versus CO15 min, ; CO15 min versus C15 min, ; CO15 min versus Naive, ; and Naïve versus C15 min ).

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