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Constitutive activation of CREB in mice enhances temporal association learning and increases hippocampal CA1 neuronal spine density and complexity.

ABSTRACT: Transcription factor CREB is believed to play essential roles in the formation of long-term memory (LTM), but not in learning and short-term memory (STM). Surprisingly, we previously showed that transgenic mice expressing a dominant active mutant of CREB (DIEDML) in the forebrain (DIEDML mice) demonstrated enhanced STM and LTM in hippocampal-dependent, rapid, one-trial learning tasks. Here we show that constitutive activation of CREB enhances hippocampal-dependent learning of temporal association in trace fear conditioning and delayed matching-to-place tasks. We then show that in DIEDML mice the apical tuft dendrites of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons, required for temporal association learning, display increased spine density, especially of thin spines and of Homer1-negative spines. In contrast, the basal and apical oblique dendrites of CA1 neurons, required for rapid one-trial learning, show increased density of thin, stubby, and mushroom spines and of Homer1-positive spines. Furthermore, DIEDML mice showed increased dendritic complexity in the proximal portion of apical CA1 dendrites to the soma. In contrast, forebrain overexpression of CaMKIV, leading to enhanced LTM but not STM, show normal learning and CA1 neuron morphology. These findings suggest that dendritic region-specific morphological changes in CA1 neurons by constitutive activation of CREB may contribute to improved learning and STM.

SUBMITTER: Serita T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5307365 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Constitutive activation of CREB in mice enhances temporal association learning and increases hippocampal CA1 neuronal spine density and complexity.

Serita Tatsurou T Fukushima Hotaka H Kida Satoshi S

Scientific reports 20170214

Transcription factor CREB is believed to play essential roles in the formation of long-term memory (LTM), but not in learning and short-term memory (STM). Surprisingly, we previously showed that transgenic mice expressing a dominant active mutant of CREB (DIEDML) in the forebrain (DIEDML mice) demonstrated enhanced STM and LTM in hippocampal-dependent, rapid, one-trial learning tasks. Here we show that constitutive activation of CREB enhances hippocampal-dependent learning of temporal associatio ...[more]

PMID: 28195219

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Project description:Sleep has been hypothesized to rebalance overall synaptic strength after ongoing learning during waking leads to net synaptic potentiation. If so, because synaptic strength and size are correlated, synapses on average should be larger after wake and smaller after sleep. This prediction was recently confirmed in mouse cerebral cortex using serial block-face electron microscopy (SBEM). However, whether these findings extend to other brain regions is unknown. Moreover, sleep deprivation by gentle handling was reported to produce hippocampal spine loss, raising the question of whether synapse size and number are differentially affected by sleep and waking. Here we applied SBEM to measure axon-spine interface (ASI), the contact area between pre-synapse and post-synapse, and synapse density in CA1 stratum radiatum. Adolescent YFP-H mice were studied after 6-8 h of sleep (S = 6), spontaneous wake at night (W = 4) or wake enforced during the day by novelty exposure (EW = 4; males/females balanced). In each animal ?425 ASIs were measured and synaptic vesicles were counted in ~100 synapses/mouse. Reconstructed dendrites included many small, nonperforated synapses and fewer large, perforated synapses. Relative to S, ASI sizes in perforated synapses shifted toward higher values after W and more so after EW. ASI sizes in nonperforated synapses grew after EW relative to S and W, and so did their density. ASI size correlated with presynaptic vesicle number but the proportion of readily available vesicles decreased after EW, suggesting presynaptic fatigue. Thus, CA1 synapses undergo changes consistent with sleep-dependent synaptic renormalization and their number increases after extended wake.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Sleep benefits learning, memory consolidation, and the integration of new with old memories, but the underlying mechanisms remain highly debated. One hypothesis suggests that sleep's cognitive benefits stem from its ability to renormalize total synaptic strength, after ongoing learning during wake leads to net synaptic potentiation. Supporting evidence for this hypothesis mainly comes from the cerebral cortex, including the observation that cortical synapses are larger after wake and smaller after sleep. Using serial electron microscopy, we find here that sleep/wake synaptic changes consistent with sleep-dependent synaptic renormalization also occur in the CA1 region. Thus, the role of sleep in maintaining synaptic homeostasis may extend to the hippocampus, a key area for learning and synaptic plasticity.

Dataset Information

Constitutive activation of CREB in mice enhances temporal association learning and increases hippocampal CA1 neuronal spine density and complexity.

Publications

Constitutive activation of CREB in mice enhances temporal association learning and increases hippocampal CA1 neuronal spine density and complexity.

Similar Datasets

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