Search

Given that histone acetylation via histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs) is significant in memory formation, HDAC2 has been thoroughly investigated as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of cognitive dysfunction. Although HDAC inhibitors have been discovered through in vitro enzyme assay, off-target effects on other HDACs are common due to their conserved catalytic domains. Each HDAC could be regulated by specific intracellular molecular mechanisms, raising the possibility that a cell-based assay could identify selective inhibitors targeting specific HDACs through their regulatory mechanisms. Here, we propose a versatile, cell-based reporter system for screening HDAC2 inhibitors. Through RNA-sequencing from human cultured neuronal cells, we determined that expression of a transcriptional repressor, inhibitor of DNA binding 1 (ID1), is increased by knockdown of HDAC2. We also established the knock-in neuronal cell lines of a bioluminescence reporter gene to ID1. The knock-in cell lines showed significant reporter activity by known HDAC inhibitors and by HDAC2-knockdown but not by HDAC1-knockdown. Thus, our neuronal cell-based reporter system is a promising method for screening the specific inhibitors of HDAC2 but not HDAC1, by potentially targeting not only HDAC2, but also the regulatory mechanisms of HDAC2 in neurons.

The flexibility of memory updating may be determined in the initial memory consolidation process. Here, the authors show the proteomic changes of the transcriptional repressor complexes required for initial memory consolidation and influencing the flexibility of future memory updating.

Transcriptional regulation is necessary for maintaining long-term memories (LTM) but the mechanistic details are not completely defined. Here the authors identify transcriptional machinery and histone modifiers required for LTM maintenance inDrosophilaand show that transcriptional regulation for LTM maintenance is distinct from that for LTM formation.

Memory formation and forgetting unnecessary memory must be balanced for adaptive animal behavior. While cyclic AMP (cAMP) signaling via dopamine neurons induces memory formation, here we report that cyclic guanine monophosphate (cGMP) signaling via dopamine neurons launches forgetting of unconsolidated memory in Drosophila. Genetic screening and proteomic analyses showed that neural activation induces the complex formation of a histone H3K9 demethylase, Kdm4B, and a GMP synthetase, Bur, which is necessary and sufficient for forgetting unconsolidated memory. Kdm4B/Bur is activated by phosphorylation through NO-dependent cGMP signaling via dopamine neurons, inducing gene expression, including kek2 encoding a presynaptic protein. Accordingly, Kdm4B/Bur activation induced presynaptic changes. Our data demonstrate a link between cGMP signaling and synapses via gene expression in forgetting, suggesting that the opposing functions of memory are orchestrated by distinct signaling via dopamine neurons, which affects synaptic integrity and thus balances animal behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]