Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 1 pp 543—570
Activation of α7 nAChR by PNU-282987 improves synaptic and cognitive functions through restoring the expression of synaptic-associated proteins and the CaM-CaMKII-CREB signaling pathway
Figure 2. Activation of α7 nAChR alleviates cognitive deficits in APP/PS1_DT mice. (A) Escape latency of mice from different groups. (B) Times of staying in the platform (C) The numbers of crossing the platform. The abscissa indicate the wild-type C57 mice injected with saline (control), wild-type C57 mice injected with PNU-282987 (WP), APP/PS1_DT mice injected with saline (APP/PS1) and APP/PS1_DT mice injected with PNU-282987 (AP). The Morris water maze demonstrated that both spatial learning, and spatial memory abilities were declined in 6- and 10-months-old APP/PS1_DT mice, while α7 nAChR alleviated cognitive deficits in APP/PS1_DT mice. These results indicate that the expression level of α7 nAChR is associated with improved cognitive function in the APP/PS1_DT mice. Data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation. *P<0.05, **P<0.01 vs. control group; #P<0.05, ##P<0.01 vs. APP/PS1 group. s, seconds; N, times.