RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 TrkB as a Potential Synaptic and Behavioral Tag
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 11762
OP 11771
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2707-11.2011
VO 31
IS 33
A1 Lu, Yuan
A1 Ji, Yuanyuan
A1 Ganesan, Sundar
A1 Schloesser, Robert
A1 Martinowich, Keri
A1 Sun, Mu
A1 Mei, Fan
A1 Chao, Moses V.
A1 Lu, Bai
YR 2011
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/33/11762.abstract
AB Late-phase long-term potentiation (L-LTP), a cellular model for long-term memory (LTM), requires de novo protein synthesis. An attractive hypothesis for synapse specificity of long-term memory is “synaptic tagging”: synaptic activity generates a tag, which “captures” the PRPs (plasticity-related proteins) derived outside of synapses. Here we provide evidence that TrkB, the receptor of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), may serve as a “synaptic tag.” TrkB is transiently activated by weak theta-burst stimulation (TBS) that induces only early-phase LTP (E-LTP). This TrkB activation is independent of protein synthesis, and confined to stimulated synapses. Induction of L-LTP by strong stimulation in one synaptic pathway converts weak TBS-induced E-LTP to L-LTP in a second, independent pathway. Transient inhibition of TrkB around the time of weak TBS to the second pathway diminished L-LTP in that pathway without affecting the first one. Behaviorally, weak training, which induces short-term memory (STM) but not LTM, can be consolidated into LTM by exposing animals to novel but not familiar environment 1 h before training. Inhibition of TrkB during STM training blocked such consolidation. These results suggest TrkB as a potential tag for synapse-specific expression of L-LTP and LTM.