The Journal of Neuroscience, August 20, 2008, 28(34):8502-8509; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1756-08.2008
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Cellular/Molecular
A Molecular Circuit Composed of CPEB-1 and c-Jun Controls Growth Hormone-Mediated Synaptic Plasticity in the Mouse Hippocampus
N. Ruth Zearfoss,1
Juan Marcos Alarcon,2
Pierre Trifilieff,2
Eric Kandel,2,3 and
Joel D. Richter1
1Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605, 2College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, and 3Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032
Correspondence should be addressed to Joel D. Richter, Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, 373 Plantation Street, Worchester, MA 01605. Email: joel.richter{at}umassmed.edu
Cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein 1 (CPEB-1) resides at postsynaptic sites in hippocampal neurons in which it controls polyadenylation-induced translation. CPEB-1 knock-out (KO) mice display defects in some forms of synaptic plasticity and hippocampal-dependent memories. To identify CPEB-1-regulated mRNAs, we used proteomics to compare polypeptides in wild-type (WT) and CPEB-1 KO hippocampus. Growth hormone (GH) was reduced in the KO hippocampus, as were the GH signaling molecules phospho-JAK2 and phospho-STAT3. GH mRNA and pre-mRNA were reduced in the KO hippocampus, suggesting that CPEB-1 controls GH transcription. The transcription factor c-Jun, which binds the GH promoter, was also reduced in the KO hippocampus, as was its ability to coimmunoprecipitate chromatin containing the GH promoter. CPEB-1 binds c-Jun 3' untranslated region CPEs in vitro and coimmunoprecipitates c-Jun RNA in vivo. GH induces long-term potentiation (LTP) when applied to hippocampal slices from WT and CPEB-1 KO mice, but the magnitude of LTP induced by GH in KO mice is reduced. Pretreatment with GH did not reverse the LTP deficit observed in KO mice after theta-burst stimulation (TBS). Cordycepin, an inhibitor of polyadenylation, disrupted LTP induced by either GH application or TBS. Finally, GH application to hippocampal slices induced JAK2 phosphorylation in WT but not KO animals. These results indicate that CPEB-1 control of c-Jun mRNA translation regulates GH gene expression and resulting downstream signaling events (e.g., synaptic plasticity) in the mouse hippocampus.
Key words: CPEB-1; c-Jun; growth hormone; mRNA translation; plasticity; hippocampus
Received Dec. 7, 2007;
revised June 27, 2008;
accepted July 8, 2008.
Correspondence should be addressed to Joel D. Richter, Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, 373 Plantation Street, Worchester, MA 01605. Email: joel.richter{at}umassmed.edu
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