Journal Article

A requirement for the immediate early gene Zif268 in the expression of late LTP and long-term memories

Fine, A., Jones, M. W., Errington, M. L., Laroche, S., Davis, S., Bliss, T. V. P., Charnay, P., Bozon, B., French, P. J., Garel, S.

2001

Overview

The induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is associated with a rapid and robust transcription of the immediate early gene Zif268 . We used a mutant mouse with a targeted disruption of Zif268 to ask whether this gene, which encodes a zinc finger transcription factor, is required for the maintenance of late LTP and for the expression of long-term memory. We show that whereas mutant mice exhibit early LTP in the dentate gyrus, late LTP is absent when measured 24 and 48 hours after tetanus in the freely moving animal. In both spatial and non-spatial learning tasks, short-term memory remained intact, whereas performance was impaired in tests requiring long-term memory. Thus, Zif268 is essential for the transition from short- to long-term synaptic plasticity and for the expression of long-term memories.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group US,Nature Publishing Group
• Subject: Anesthetics / Anesthetics - pharmacology / Animal Genetics and Genomics / Animals / Avoidance Learning / Avoidance Learning - physiology / Behavioral Sciences / Biological Techniques / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biomedicine / Cognitive Sciences / Dentate Gyrus / Dentate Gyrus - cytology / Dentate Gyrus - metabolism / Discrimination Learning / Discrimination Learning - physiology / DNA binding proteins / DNA-Binding Proteins - deficiency / DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics / Early Growth Response Protein 1 / Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials - physiology / Gene expression / Genes / Genes, Immediate-Early / Genes, Immediate-Early - physiology / Genetic aspects / Hippocampus (Brain) / immediate early genes / Immediate-Early Proteins / Information storage / Life Sciences / Long-Term Potentiation / Long-Term Potentiation - genetics / Maze Learning / Maze Learning - physiology / Memory / Memory - physiology / Memory Disorders / Memory Disorders - genetics / Memory Disorders - metabolism / Memory, Short-Term / Memory, Short-Term - physiology / Mice / Mice, Knockout / Neurobiology / Neuronal Plasticity / Neuronal Plasticity - genetics / Neurons / Neurons - cytology / Neurons - metabolism / Neurons and Cognition / Neurosciences / Physiological aspects / Proteins / Psychology and behavior / Publishing / RNA, Messenger / RNA, Messenger - metabolism / Tetanus / Transcription Factors / Transcription Factors - deficiency / Transcription Factors - genetics / Zif268 gene