title: dCREB2-mediated enhancement of memory formation.
abstract: CREB-responsive transcription has an important role in adaptive responses in all cells and tissue. In the nervous system, it has an essential and well established role in long-term memory formation throughout a diverse set of organisms. Activation of this transcription factor correlates with long-term memory formation and disruption of its activity interferes with this process. Most convincingly, augmenting CREB activity in a number of different systems enhances memory formation. In Drosophila, a sequence rearrangement in the original transgene used to enhance memory formation has been a source of confusion. This rearrangement prematurely terminates translation of the full-length protein, leaving the identity of the "enhancing molecule" unclear. In this report, we show that a naturally occurring, downstream, in-frame initiation codon is used to make a dCREB2 protein off of both transgenic and chromosomal substrates. This protein is a transcriptional activator and is responsible for memory enhancement. A number of parameters can affect enhancement, including the short-lived activity of the activator protein, and the time-of-day when induction and behavioral training occur. Our results reaffirm that overexpression of a dCREB2 activator can enhance memory formation and illustrate the complexity of this behavioral enhancement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Neurology, Institute on Aging, Neuroscience Training Program, Wisconsin Institute of Medical Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Tubon
authors.forename: Jiabin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Eugenia L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Haining
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Erin D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Gonzales
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Drier
authors.forename: Jason R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Gerstner
authors.forename: Emily A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Paulson
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fropf
authors.forename: Jerry C P
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D002460:Cell Line; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D057567:Memory, Long-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: C102181:CrebB protein, Drosophila; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators