Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Cell Rep. 2013 Sep 26;4(6):1082-9. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2013.08.007. Epub 2013 Sep 12.
Wnt signaling regulates synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis in the adult nervous system, suggesting a potential role in behavioral processes. Here, we probed the requirement for Wnt signaling during olfactory memory formation in Drosophila using an inducible RNAi approach. Interfering with β-catenin expression in adult mushroom body neurons specifically impaired long-term memory (LTM) without altering short-term memory. The impairment was reversible, being rescued by expression of a wild-type β-catenin transgene, and correlated with disruption of a cellular LTM trace. Inhibition of wingless, a Wnt ligand, and arrow, a Wnt coreceptor, also impaired LTM. Wingless expression in wild-type flies was transiently elevated in the brain after LTM conditioning. Thus, inhibiting three key components of the Wnt signaling pathway in adult mushroom bodies impairs LTM, indicating that this pathway mechanistically underlies this specific form of memory.
Wnt 信号通路调节成年神经系统中的突触可塑性和神经发生，表明其在行为过程中可能具有潜在作用。在这里，我们使用诱导型 RNAi 方法探究了 Wnt 信号通路在果蝇嗅觉记忆形成过程中的必要性。在成年蘑菇体神经元中特异性干扰β-连环蛋白的表达会特异性损害长期记忆（LTM），而不会改变短期记忆。这种损害是可逆的，通过表达野生型β-连环蛋白转基因可以得到挽救，并且与细胞 LTM 痕迹的破坏相关。抑制 Wnt 配体 Wingless 和 Wnt 核心受体 Arrow 也会损害 LTM。在 LTM 条件作用后，野生型果蝇大脑中的 Wingless 表达短暂升高。因此，在成年蘑菇体中抑制 Wnt 信号通路的三个关键组成部分会损害 LTM，这表明该通路在这种特定形式的记忆中具有机制基础。
