title: DNA Methylation in Memory Formation: Emerging Insights.
abstract: The establishment of synaptic plasticity and long-term memory requires lasting cellular and molecular modifications that, as a whole, must endure despite the rapid turnover of their constituent parts. Such a molecular feat must be mediated by a stable, self-perpetuating, cellular information storage mechanism. DNA methylation, being the archetypal cellular information storage mechanism, has been heavily implicated as being necessary for stable activity-dependent transcriptional alterations within the CNS. This review details the foundational discoveries from both gene-targeted and whole-genome sequencing studies that have brought DNA methylation to our attention as a chief regulator of activity- and experience-dependent transcriptional alterations within the CNS. We present a hypothetical framework to resolve disparate experimental findings regarding distinct manipulations of DNA methylation and their effect on memory, taking into account the unique impact activity-dependent alterations in DNA methylation potentially have on both memory-promoting and memory-suppressing gene expression. And last, we discuss potential avenues for future inquiry into the role of DNA methylation during remote memory formation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
authors.forename: Frankie D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Heyward
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA dsweatt@uab.edu.
authors.forename: J David
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Sweatt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000502:physiology*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*
keywords: DNA demethylation; DNA methylation; epigenetics; memory; synaptic plasticity
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