In the loop: how chromatin topology links genome structure to function in mechanisms underlying learning and memory
Author(s)
Watson, Lauren Ashley; Tsai, Li-Huei
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Different aspects of learning, memory, and cognition are regulated by epigenetic mechanisms such as covalent DNA modifications and histone post-translational modifications. More recently, the modulation of chromatin architecture and nuclear organization is emerging as a key factor in dynamic transcriptional regulation of the post-mitotic neuron. For instance, neuronal activity induces relocalization of gene loci to ‘transcription factories’, and specific enhancer–promoter looping contacts allow for precise transcriptional regulation. Moreover, neuronal activity-dependent DNA double-strand break formation in the promoter of immediate early genes appears to overcome topological constraints on transcription. Together, these findings point to a critical role for genome topology in integrating dynamic environmental signals to define precise spatiotemporal gene expression programs supporting cognitive processes.
Date issued
2017-04Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences; Picower Institute for Learning and MemoryJournal
Current Opinion in Neurobiology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Citation
Watson, L. Ashley et al. "In the loop: how chromatin topology links genome structure to function in mechanisms underlying learning and memory." Current Opinion in Neurobiology 43 (April 2017): 48-55 © 2016 Elsevier Ltd
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISSN
0959-4388
Keywords
General Neuroscience