QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, July 26, 2006, 26(30):7919-7932; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1674-06.2006

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) An erratum has been published Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (8) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Garcia-Osta, A. Articles by Alberini, C. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Garcia-Osta, A. Articles by Alberini, C. M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
MuSK Expressed in the Brain Mediates Cholinergic Responses, Synaptic Plasticity, and Memory Formation

Ana Garcia-Osta,¹ Panayiotis Tsokas,^3 * Gabriella Pollonini,^1 * Emmanuel M. Landau,^2,3,4 Robert Blitzer,³ and Cristina M. Alberini^1,2

Departments of ¹Neuroscience, ²Psychiatry, and ³Pharmacology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029, and ⁴Psychiatry Service, Bronx Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, New York 10468

Correspondence should be addressed to Cristina M. Alberini, Department of Neuroscience, Box 1065, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029. Cristina.Alberini{at}mssm.edu

Muscle-specific tyrosine kinase receptor (MuSK) has been believed to be mainly expressed and functional in muscle, in which it mediates the formation of neuromuscular junctions. Here we show that MuSK is expressed in the brain, particularly in neurons, as well as in non-neuronal tissues. We also provide evidence that MuSK expression in the hippocampus is required for memory consolidation, because temporally restricted knockdown after training impairs memory retention. Hippocampal disruption of MuSK also prevents the learning-dependent induction of both cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation and CCAAT enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) expression, suggesting that the role of MuSK during memory consolidation critically involves the CREB–C/EBP pathway. Furthermore, we found that MuSK also plays an important role in mediating hippocampal oscillatory activity in the theta frequency as well as in the induction and maintenance of long-term potentiation, two synaptic responses that correlate with memory formation. We conclude that MuSK plays an important role in brain functions, including memory formation. Therefore, its expression and role are broader than what was believed previously.

Key words: MuSK; brain; long-term plasticity; memory; oscillatory response; C/EBP

---

Received April 19, 2006; revised June 15, 2006; accepted June 16, 2006.

Correspondence should be addressed to Cristina M. Alberini, Department of Neuroscience, Box 1065, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029. Cristina.Alberini{at}mssm.edu

This article has been cited by other articles:

				V. Nagy, O. Bozdagi, and G. W. Huntley The extracellular protease matrix metalloproteinase-9 is activated by inhibitory avoidance learning and required for long-term memory Learn. Mem., September 25, 2007; 14(10): 655 - 664. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				I. Ksiazek, C. Burkhardt, S. Lin, R. Seddik, M. Maj, G. Bezakova, M. Jucker, S. Arber, P. Caroni, J. R. Sanes, et al. Synapse Loss in Cortex of Agrin-Deficient Mice after Genetic Rescue of Perinatal Death J. Neurosci., July 4, 2007; 27(27): 7183 - 7195. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. J. Smith, W. R. Hardy, J. M. Murphy, N. Jones, and T. Pawson Screening for PTB Domain Binding Partners and Ligand Specificity Using Proteome-Derived NPXY Peptide Arrays Mol. Cell. Biol., November 15, 2006; 26(22): 8461 - 8474. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help