ISOLATION OF A G-PROTEIN THAT IS MODIFIED BY LEARNING AND REDUCES POTASSIUM CURRENTS IN HERMISSENDA

In Hermissenda crassicornis conditioned to associate light and rotation, type B photoreceptor neurons exhibit pairing-specific decreases in the potassium currents IA and IK-Ca, which account for many of the behavioral changes elicited by associative conditioning. To determine which proteins are involved in storage of this memory, high-performance liquid chromatography was used to examine proteins from Hermissenda eyes. Conditioning-specific changes in four phosphoproteins were observed 24 hours after conditioning. One of these proteins, cp20, was purified to apparent homogeneity and found to be a G protein. When injected back into Hermissenda type B cells, cp20 reduced IK and IK-Ca in a manner indistinguishable from the reduction caused by conditioning, suggesting that this protein may play a crucial role in memory acquisition or retention.