1. Academic Validation
  2. eIF2alpha phosphorylation bidirectionally regulates the switch from short- to long-term synaptic plasticity and memory

eIF2alpha phosphorylation bidirectionally regulates the switch from short- to long-term synaptic plasticity and memory

  • Cell. 2007 Apr 6;129(1):195-206. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2007.01.050.
Mauro Costa-Mattioli 1 Delphine Gobert Elad Stern Karine Gamache Rodney Colina Claudio Cuello Wayne Sossin Randal Kaufman Jerry Pelletier Kobi Rosenblum Kresimir Krnjević Jean-Claude Lacaille Karim Nader Nahum Sonenberg
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Department of Biochemistry and McGill Cancer Center, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. mauro.costa-mattioli@mail.mcgill.ca
Abstract

The late phase of long-term potentiation (LTP) and memory (LTM) requires new gene expression, but the molecular mechanisms that underlie these processes are not fully understood. Phosphorylation of eIF2alpha inhibits general translation but selectively stimulates translation of ATF4, a repressor of CREB-mediated late-LTP (L-LTP) and LTM. We used a pharmacogenetic bidirectional approach to examine the role of eIF2alpha phosphorylation in synaptic plasticity and behavioral learning. We show that in eIF2alpha(+/S51A) mice, in which eIF2alpha phosphorylation is reduced, the threshold for eliciting L-LTP in hippocampal slices is lowered, and memory is enhanced. In contrast, only early-LTP is evoked by repeated tetanic stimulation and LTM is impaired, when eIF2alpha phosphorylation is increased by injecting into the hippocampus a small molecule, Sal003, which prevents the dephosphorylation of eIF2alpha. These findings highlight the importance of a single phosphorylation site in eIF2alpha as a key regulator of L-LTP and LTM formation.

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