Late memory-related genes in the hippocampus revealed by RNA fingerprinting.
Although long-term memory is thought to require a cellular program of gene expression and increased protein synthesis, the identity of proteins critical for associative memory is largely unknown. We used RNA fingerprinting to identify candidate memory-related genes (MRGs), which were up-regulated in the hippocampus of water maze-trained rats, a brain area that is critically involved in spatial learning. Two of the original 10 candidate genes implicated by RNA fingerprinting, the rat homolog of the ryanodine receptor type-2 and glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.3), were further investigated by Northern blot analysis, reverse transcription-PCR, and in situ hybridization and confirmed as MRGs with distinct temporal and regional expression. Successive RNA screening as illustrated here may help to reveal a spectrum of MRGs as they appear in distinct domains of memory storage.
Cavallaro
S
S
Laboratory of Adaptive Systems, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Meiri
N
N
Yi
C L
CL
Musco
S
S
Ma
W
W
Goldberg
J
J
Alkon
D L
DL
D000818:Animals; D005796:Genes; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012313:RNA / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013550:Swimming / Q000502:physiology
D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D012313:RNA