title: Forgetting in C. elegans is accelerated by neuronal communication via the TIR-1/JNK-1 pathway.
abstract: The control of memory retention is important for proper responses to constantly changing environments, but the regulatory mechanisms underlying forgetting have not been fully elucidated. Our genetic analyses in C. elegans revealed that mutants of the TIR-1/JNK-1 pathway exhibited prolonged retention of olfactory adaptation and salt chemotaxis learning. In olfactory adaptation, conditioning induces attenuation of odor-evoked Ca(2+) responses in olfactory neurons, and this attenuation is prolonged in the TIR-1/JNK-1-pathway mutant animals. We also found that a pair of neurons in which the pathway functions is required for the acceleration of forgetting, but not for sensation or adaptation, in wild-type animals. In addition, the neurosecretion from these cells is important for the acceleration of forgetting. Therefore, we propose that these neurons accelerate forgetting through the TIR-1/JNK-1 pathway by sending signals that directly or indirectly stimulate forgetting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.
authors.forename: Akitoshi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Etsuko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sawatari
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hisamoto
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitazono
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Teramoto
authors.forename: Manabi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Kunihiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishihara
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System; D008568:Memory; D048055:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 8 / Q000378:metabolism*; D009154:Mutation; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D012903:Smell / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; C485906:tir-1 protein, C elegans; D048055:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 8; D002118:Calcium