Diminished trkA receptor signaling reveals cholinergic-attentional vulnerability of aging.

ABSTRACT: The cellular mechanisms underlying the exceptional vulnerability of the basal forebrain (BF) cholinergic neurons during pathological aging have remained elusive. Here we employed an adeno-associated viral vector-based RNA interference (AAV-RNAi) strategy to suppress the expression of tropomyosin-related kinase A (trkA) receptors by cholinergic neurons in the nucleus basalis of Meynert/substantia innominata (nMB/SI) of adult and aged rats. Suppression of trkA receptor expression impaired attentional performance selectively in aged rats. Performance correlated with trkA levels in the nMB/SI. trkA knockdown neither affected nMB/SI cholinergic cell counts nor the decrease in cholinergic cell size observed in aged rats. However, trkA suppression augmented an age-related decrease in the density

SUBMITTER: Parikh V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3932048 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature