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EPAC null mutation impairs learning and social interactions via aberrant regulation of miR-124 and Zif268 translation
Molecular Neurodegeneration volume 7, Article number: O12 (2012)
Background
EPAC proteins are the guanine nucleotide exchange factors that act as the intracellular receptors for cyclic AMP. Two variants of EPAC genes including EPAC1 and EPAC2 are found to be expressed throughout the brain. But, their neurological functions have yet to be described.
Method
We generate genetically-modified strains of mice with deficiency in expression of EPAC1 (EPAC1-/- mice), or EPAC2 (EPAC2-/- mice) or both EPAC1 and EPAC2 genes (EPAC-/- mice).
Result and conclusion
We show that EPAC null mutation in the forebrain of mice impairs LTP of synaptic transmission that is paralleled with the abnormal spatial learning and social behaviors. This impairment is mediated in a direct manner by expressing miR-124, which binds to and inhibits Zif268 mRNA translation. Knockdown of miR-124 completely reverses the phenotypes observed in EPAC-/- mice, whereas over-expression of miR-124 mimics EPAC null mutation. Thus, miR-124 constitutes a critical epigenetic signaling downstream of EPAC proteins for regulation of learning and social interactions.
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Additional information
Ying Yang, Xiaogang Shu contributed equally to this work.
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Open Access This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Yang, Y., Shu, X., Liu, D. et al. EPAC null mutation impairs learning and social interactions via aberrant regulation of miR-124 and Zif268 translation. Mol Neurodegeneration 7 (Suppl 1), O12 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1186/1750-1326-7-S1-O12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1750-1326-7-S1-O12
Keywords
- Nucleotide
- Social Interaction
- Social Behavior
- Synaptic Transmission
- Spatial Learning