Effects of aerobic exercise on mTOR signaling pathway in hippocampus of mice with different ages and its relationship with cognitive function
10.3969/j.issn.1000-6710.2025.01.005
- VernacularTitle:有氧运动对不同年龄小鼠海马mTOR信号通路活性的影响及其与认知功能关系
- Author:
Fengying YANG
1
;
Bo SUI
;
Jie YANG
;
Li FU
Author Information
1. 山东体育学院运动与健康学院(济南 250102)
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
aerobic exercise;
brain-derived neurotrophic factor;
mammalian target of rapamycin;
hip-pocampus;
cognition
- From:
Chinese Journal of Sports Medicine
2025;44(1):44-52
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To explore the effect of aerobic exercise on the activity of mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR)signaling pathway in hippocampus of mice with different ages and its relation-ship with cognitive function.Methods Ninety one-month-old C57BL/6 male mice were randomly divid-ed into an aerobic exercise group(E,n=45)and a quiet control group(C,n=45).Group E was sub-jected to aerobic treadmill exercise with 75%VO2max intensity,while group C kept quiet.When they grew to 3,12 and 20 months,15 of them underwent Morris water maze test to test the cognitive func-tion before they were executed for their brain and hippocampus.Then,Western blotting was employed to detect the expression of mTOR,p-mTOR(Ser2448),p-S6K1(Thr389),p-4EBP1(Ser65)and brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF),while immunohistochemical staining was used to detect BDNF pro-tein positive cells in the hippocampus and the integrated optical density was calculated.Results From day 3,the escape latencies in water maze navigation test of 12-month and 20-month mice were signif-icantly higher than the 3-month ones(P<0.05 or P<0.01),with those of the 20-month significantly higher than the 12-month(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Moreover,the distance in target quadrant and number of platform location crossing of the 12-month were significantly lower compared with the 3-month(P<0.05),while those of the 20-month mice were significantly lower than the 3-and 12-month(P<0.01).For 3-month old mice,p-mTOR(Ser2448),p-S6K1(Thr389),and p-4EBP1(Ser65)expressions in group E were significantly higher than group C(P<0.05 or P<0.01);but for the 12-and 20-month-old mice,p-mTOR(Ser2448),p-S6K1(Thr389),and p-4EBP1(Ser65)expressions in group E were significantly lower than those of the age-matched C groups(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Meanwhile,the ex-pression of BDNF in hippocampus of group E was significantly higher than the age-matched C groups(P<0.01).Conclusion Aerobic exercise can promote the development of cognitive function in young mice and delay the age-related degeneration in older mice,which may be realized by activating the hippocampal mTOR signaling pathway in young mice but inhibiting it in adult mice.It is suggested that the activity of mTOR signaling pathway is necessary for hippocampal memory in developing mice,but its overactivity may have adverse effects on cognition in elderly ones.
