Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Trends Neurosci. 2011 Nov;34(11):591-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2011.08.007. Epub 2011 Sep 30.
The activity-regulated cytoskeletal (Arc) gene encodes a protein that is critical for memory consolidation. Arc is one of the most tightly regulated molecules known: neuronal activity controls Arc mRNA induction, trafficking and accumulation, and Arc protein production, localization and stability. Arc regulates synaptic strength through multiple mechanisms and is involved in essentially every known form of synaptic plasticity. It also mediates memory formation and is implicated in multiple neurological diseases. In this review, we will discuss how Arc is regulated and used as a tool to study neuronal activity. We will also attempt to clarify how its molecular functions correspond to its requirement in various forms of plasticity, discuss Arc's role in behavior and disease, and highlight critical unresolved questions.
活性调节细胞骨架(Arc)基因编码的蛋白质对于记忆巩固至关重要。Arc 是已知受调控最严格的分子之一:神经元活动控制 Arc mRNA 的诱导、运输和积累,以及 Arc 蛋白的产生、定位和稳定性。Arc 通过多种机制调节突触强度,参与几乎所有已知形式的突触可塑性。它还介导记忆形成,并与多种神经疾病有关。在这篇综述中,我们将讨论 Arc 如何被调控,并作为研究神经元活动的工具。我们还将尝试阐明其分子功能如何与其在各种形式的可塑性中的需求相对应,讨论 Arc 在行为和疾病中的作用,并强调关键的未解决问题。