Song Qingxuan, Sun Kan, Shuai Yichun, Lin Ran, You Wenjia, Wang Lianzhang, Zhong Yi
Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
J Neurogenet. 2009;23(4):405-11. doi: 10.3109/01677060903096133.
Suppressor of Hairless [Su(H)] is a DNA-binding protein of the Notch-signaling pathway, which is important for developmental processes and has been implicated in behavior plasticity. It acts as a transcriptional activator in the Notch pathway, but also as a repressor in the absence of Notch signaling. Our previous work has shown that Notch signaling contributes to long-term memory formation in the Drosophila adult brain. In the present report, we show that Su(H) null heterozygous mutants perform normally for learning, early memory, and anesthesia-resistant memory, whereas long-term memory is impaired. Interestingly, we find overexpressing wild- type Su(H) also causes long-term memory defect in Drosophila. Significantly, induction of a heat-shock inducible Su(H)(+) transgene before training can fully rescue the memory defect of Su(H) mutants, thereby demonstrating an acute role for Su(H) in behavioral plasticity. We show that Su(H) is widely expressed in the adult brain. Transgenic expression of wild-type Su(H) in the Mushroom Bodies is sufficient to rescue the memory defect of Su(H) mutants. Our data clearly demonstrate that transcriptional activity of Su(H) in Notch signaling in the mushroom bodies is critical for the formation of long-term memory.
无翅抑制因子[Su(H)]是Notch信号通路中的一种DNA结合蛋白，对发育过程至关重要，并与行为可塑性有关。它在Notch通路中作为转录激活因子起作用，但在没有Notch信号时也作为抑制因子。我们之前的研究表明，Notch信号通路有助于果蝇成体大脑中的长期记忆形成。在本报告中，我们发现Su(H)纯合突变体在学习、早期记忆和抗麻醉记忆方面表现正常，而长期记忆受损。有趣的是，我们发现过表达野生型Su(H)也会导致果蝇长期记忆缺陷。值得注意的是，在训练前诱导热休克诱导的Su(H)(+)转基因可以完全挽救Su(H)突变体的记忆缺陷，从而证明Su(H)在行为可塑性中起急性作用。我们发现Su(H)在成体大脑中广泛表达。在蘑菇体中转基因表达野生型Su(H)足以挽救Su(H)突变体的记忆缺陷。我们的数据清楚地表明，蘑菇体中Notch信号通路中Su(H)的转录活性对长期记忆的形成至关重要。
