title: Regulator of Calcineurin (RCAN-1) Regulates Thermotaxis Behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: Regulator of calcineurin (RCAN) is a calcineurin-interacting protein that inhibits calcineurin phosphatase when overexpressed, often upregulated under neuropathological conditions with impaired learning and memory processes, such as Down syndrome or Alzheimer's disease. Thermotactic behavior in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a form of memory in which calcineurin signaling plays a pivotal role in the thermosensation of AFD neurons. In this study, we found that rcan-1 deletion mutants exhibited cryophilic behavior dependent on tax-6, which was rescued by expressing rcan-1 in AFD neurons. Interaction between RCAN-1 and TAX-6 requires the conserved PxIxIT motif of RCAN-1, without which thermotactic behavior could not be fully rescued. In addition, the loss of crh-1/CREB suppressed the thermotaxis phenotypes of rcan-1 and tax-6 mutants, indicating that crh-1 is crucial in thermotaxis memory in these mutants. Taken together, our results suggest that rcan-1 is an inhibitory regulator of tax-6 and that it acts in the formation of thermosensory behavioral memory in C. elegans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, School of Natural Science, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea; BK21 PLUS Life Science for Bio-Defense Research Team, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea; Research Institute for Natural Science, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Weixun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02454, USA; Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02454, USA.
authors.forename: Harold W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, School of Natural Science, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea; BK21 PLUS Life Science for Bio-Defense Research Team, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea; Research Institute for Natural Science, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: joohong@hanyang.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Joohong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ahnn
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, School of Natural Science, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea; BK21 PLUS Life Science for Bio-Defense Research Team, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea; Research Institute for Natural Science, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: sunkyungl@hanyang.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Sun-Kyung
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019703:Calcineurin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D065095:Calcineurin Inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008124:Locomotion; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013697:Thermosensing / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D065095:Calcineurin Inhibitors; D019703:Calcineurin; D002118:Calcium
keywords: CREB; Caenorhabditis elegans; RCAN; calcineurin; thermotaxis