Memory and transcription regulation

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

It is well known that gene regulation by different combinations of transcriptional factors may be involved in specific forms of long-term memory. Multiple pulses of 5-hydroxytryptamine produce long-term facilitation(LTF) in the sensory-to-motor neuron synapses that underlies long-term memory in marine snail Aplysia. LTF depends on transcription and translation. Recently we found novel transcription factors CAMAP and ApLLP, both of which act upstream of ApC/EBP. CAMAP is an associated protein with the cell adhesion molecule apCAM. CAMAP seems to playa dual role in inducing LTF. First it regulates apCAM down-regulation which is required for synaptic outgrowth. Once activated by PKA, it translocates from the plasma membrane into the nucleus and induces ApC/EBP. ApLLP is a small nucleolar protein and induces ApC/EBP by neuronal activity. During the consolidation of long-term memory, a cascade of gene activation is tightly regulated by various transcription factors including positive and negative regulators. It will be highlighted that the molecular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity are strikingly conserved from the invertebrate to the vertebrate system.