title: A trace of silence: memory and microRNA at the synapse.
abstract: Identifying the neural circuits that mediate particular behaviors and uncovering their plasticity is an endeavor at the heart of neuroscience. This effort is allied with the elucidation of plasticity mechanisms, because the molecular determinants of plasticity can be markers for the neurons and synapses that are modified by experience. Of particular interest is protein synthesis localized to the synapse, which might establish and maintain the stable modification of neuronal properties, including the pattern and strength of synaptic connections. Recent studies reveal that microRNAs and the RISC pathway regulate synaptic protein synthesis. Is synaptic activity of the RISC pathway a molecular signature of memory?
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 7 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Shovon I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Ashraf
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kunes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology; D034743:RNA-Induced Silencing Complex / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013569:Synapses / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D034743:RNA-Induced Silencing Complex