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08:19
Quantitative Comparison of cis-Regulatory Element (CRE) Activities in Transgenic Drosophila melanogaster
Published on: December 19, 2011
Dendrite development regulated by CREST, a calcium-regulated transcriptional activator
Hiroyuki Aizawa1, Shu-Ching Hu, Kathryn Bobb
1Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|January 13, 2004
Summary
Calcium-responsive transactivator, CREST, is crucial for brain development. It regulates gene expression and neuronal growth, with crest gene disruption causing defects in dendrite development.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Molecular Biology
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Neuronal activity profoundly influences brain development through calcium-dependent gene expression.
- Understanding the molecular mechanisms linking neuronal activity to developmental changes is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and characterize novel factors mediating calcium-dependent gene expression in the developing brain.
- To investigate the role of the calcium-responsive transactivator CREST in neuronal development.
Main Methods:
- Employed the transactivator trap strategy to clone calcium-responsive transactivators.
- Generated and analyzed mice with a targeted disruption of the crest gene.
- Examined dendritic development in cortical neurons from wild-type and mutant mice.
Main Results:
- Successfully cloned a novel calcium-responsive transactivator, CREST, a SYT-related nuclear protein.
- CREST interacts with cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB)-binding protein (CBP) and is expressed in the developing brain.
- Mice lacking functional crest gene exhibit impaired cortical and hippocampal dendrite development, with compromised calcium-dependent dendritic growth in cortical neurons.
Conclusions:
- Calcium activation of CREST-mediated transcription is a key regulator of neuronal morphogenesis.
- CREST plays a vital role in the structural development of neurons during brain development.
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