Experience-dependent immediate early gene expression in the adult central nervous system: evidence from enriched-environment studies.
Here I discuss evidence from our group's work that implicates the immediate early genes NGFI-A and arc as possible regulators of neuronal plasticity. The enriched environment (EE) paradigm has been demonstrated to induce neural plasticity in both developing and mature mammals. Others and we have recently demonstrated that adult rats placed within an enriched environment underwent central nervous system-wide increases in the expression levels for the IEGs NGFI-A and arc. The relationships between the altered expression profiles for both genes in response to an EE exposure, and their putative role in orchestrating network restructuring in response to enhanced environmental complexity are discussed.
Pinaud
Raphael
R
Neurological Sciences Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon 97006, USA. pinaudr@nims.ohsu.edu
D000386:AIDS-Related Complex / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1; D004777:Environment; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000235:genetics; D012160:Retina / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C497325:EGR1 protein, human; D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors