Neurotransmitters selectively change the phosphorylation of H3 histone in identified neurons of the snail Helix lucorum

Abstract

The effects of serotonin and glutamate applications on H3 histone phosphorylation at serine 10 (Ser10, pHisH3) were immunohistochemically studied in the nuclei of L-RPa2-3 defensive behavior command neurons in the snail Helix lucorum. We found that simultaneous application of neurotransmitters induces biphasic changes in pHisH3-immunoreactivity in RPa2 neurons. The pHisH3 content increased at 30 min and decreased at 3 hours below the initial level, whereas in RPa3 neurons, a decrease in pHisH3 at 3 h occurred. Changes in pHisH3-immunoreactivity were not found in LPa2 and LPa3 neurons during the 7 hours of the experiment. Alterations of pHisH3-immunoreactivity in neural nuclei coincided with significant changes in colocalization with DNA. Our results demonstrate neuron-specific changes in genome activity in the neural nuclei of identified neurons in a cell model of a simple form of learning.