601. Acetyl-CoA synthetase regulates histone acetylation and hippocampal memory.
- Author
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Mews P, Donahue G, Drake AM, Luczak V, Abel T, and Berger SL
- Subjects
- Acetate-CoA Ligase deficiency, Acetate-CoA Ligase genetics, Acetyl Coenzyme A metabolism, Acetylation, Animals, Cell Differentiation, Cell Nucleus metabolism, Cells, Cultured, Chromatin enzymology, Chromatin genetics, Chromatin metabolism, Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic, Hippocampus metabolism, Histones chemistry, Memory Consolidation physiology, Mice, Neuronal Plasticity physiology, Neurons cytology, Neurons metabolism, Up-Regulation, Acetate-CoA Ligase metabolism, Hippocampus enzymology, Hippocampus physiology, Histones metabolism, Memory physiology, Neuronal Plasticity genetics, Transcriptional Activation
- Abstract
Metabolic production of acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) is linked to histone acetylation and gene regulation, but the precise mechanisms of this process are largely unknown. Here we show that the metabolic enzyme acetyl-CoA synthetase 2 (ACSS2) directly regulates histone acetylation in neurons and spatial memory in mammals. In a neuronal cell culture model, ACSS2 increases in the nuclei of differentiating neurons and localizes to upregulated neuronal genes near sites of elevated histone acetylation. A decrease in ACSS2 lowers nuclear acetyl-CoA levels, histone acetylation, and responsive expression of the cohort of neuronal genes. In adult mice, attenuation of hippocampal ACSS2 expression impairs long-term spatial memory, a cognitive process that relies on histone acetylation. A decrease in ACSS2 in the hippocampus also leads to defective upregulation of memory-related neuronal genes that are pre-bound by ACSS2. These results reveal a connection between cellular metabolism, gene regulation, and neural plasticity and establish a link between acetyl-CoA generation 'on-site' at chromatin for histone acetylation and the transcription of key neuronal genes.
- Published
- 2017
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