Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: CREB-responsive transcription has an important role in adaptive responses in all cells and tissue. In the nervous system, it has an essential and well established role in long-term memory formation throughout a diverse set of organisms. Activation of this transcription factor correlates with long-term memory formation and disruption of its activity interferes with this process. Most convincingly, augmenting CREB activity in a number of different systems enhances memory formation. In Drosophila, a sequence rearrangement in the original transgene used to enhance memory formation has been a source of confusion. This rearrangement prematurely terminates translation of the full-length protein, leaving the identity of the "enhancing molecule" unclear. In this report, we show that a naturally occurring, downstream, in-frame initiation codon is used to make a dCREB2 protein off of both transgenic and chromosomal substrates. This protein is a transcriptional activator and is responsible for memory enhancement. A number of parameters can affect enhancement, including the short-lived activity of the activator protein, and the time-of-day when induction and behavioral training occur. Our results reaffirm that overexpression of a dCREB2 activator can enhance memory formation and illustrate the complexity of this behavioral enhancement.
Source: Journal of Neuroscience
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funders: McKnight Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
OpenAlex ID: W1964574055