Post-transcriptional mechanisms in synaptic plasticity and memory consolidation: Role of mRNA stability (A06)

• Subject Area: Molecular Biology and Physiology of Neurons and Glial Cells
• Term: since 2013
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 221828878

In the previous funding period, we established that the RNA-binding protein Gadd45a is essential for the consolidation of hippocampus-dependent aversive memory in mouse. RNA-seq analyses of hippocampal tissue revealed that Gadd45a regulates the stability of mRNAs encoding proteins, which are centrally involved in synaptic plasticity and memory processes. In the next funding period we will identify new protein members of Gadd45a containing complexes, the mRNA signatures required for targeting by Gadd45a, and the function of the Ccr4-Not complex (a newly identified Gadd45a partner which is a member of the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway) in mediating the effect of Gadd45a in RNA homeostasis and memory consolidation.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1080: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Neural Homeostasis
• Applicant Institution: Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Beat Lutz; Professor Dr. Christof Niehrs, Ph.D.