1. The neuron-specific chromatin regulatory subunit BAF53b is necessary for synaptic plasticity and memory
- Author
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Vogel-Ciernia, Annie, Matheos, Dina P, Barrett, Ruth M, Kramár, Enikö A, Azzawi, Soraya, Chen, Yuncai, Magnan, Christophe N, Zeller, Michael, Sylvain, Angelina, Haettig, Jakob, Jia, Yousheng, Tran, Anthony, Dang, Richard, Post, Rebecca J, Chabrier, Meredith, Babayan, Alex H, Wu, Jiang I, Crabtree, Gerald R, Baldi, Pierre, Baram, Tallie Z, Lynch, Gary, and Wood, Marcelo A
- Subjects
Biomedical and Clinical Sciences ,Neurosciences ,Genetics ,Basic Behavioral and Social Science ,Behavioral and Social Science ,Actin Depolymerizing Factors ,Actins ,Animals ,Chromosomal Proteins ,Non-Histone ,Conditioning ,Psychological ,DNA-Binding Proteins ,Dendritic Spines ,Dependovirus ,Disks Large Homolog 4 Protein ,Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials ,Fear ,Gene Expression Regulation ,Guanylate Kinases ,Hippocampus ,In Vitro Techniques ,Maze Learning ,Membrane Proteins ,Memory Disorders ,Mice ,Mice ,Inbred C57BL ,Mice ,Transgenic ,Mutation ,Neuronal Plasticity ,Neurons ,Recognition ,Psychology ,Time Factors ,Transcriptome ,Psychology ,Cognitive Sciences ,Neurology & Neurosurgery ,Biological psychology - Abstract
Recent exome sequencing studies have implicated polymorphic Brg1-associated factor (BAF) complexes (mammalian SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes) in several human intellectual disabilities and cognitive disorders. However, it is currently unknown how mutations in BAF complexes result in impaired cognitive function. Postmitotic neurons express a neuron-specific assembly, nBAF, characterized by the neuron-specific subunit BAF53b. Mice harboring selective genetic manipulations of BAF53b have severe defects in long-term memory and long-lasting forms of hippocampal synaptic plasticity. We rescued memory impairments in BAF53b mutant mice by reintroducing BAF53b in the adult hippocampus, which suggests a role for BAF53b beyond neuronal development. The defects in BAF53b mutant mice appeared to derive from alterations in gene expression that produce abnormal postsynaptic components, such as spine structure and function, and ultimately lead to deficits in synaptic plasticity. Our results provide new insight into the role of dominant mutations in subunits of BAF complexes in human intellectual and cognitive disorders.
- Published
- 2013