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Published on: June 26, 2013
Immediate-early genes, kindling and long-term potentiation
M Dragunow1, R W Currie, R L Faull
1Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
|January 1, 1989
Summary
Immediate-early genes, like FOS and JUN, are rapidly activated in neurons after seizures. These genes may trigger long-term brain changes, like those seen in kindling, by altering other gene activity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Long-term neural plasticity mechanisms remain largely unknown.
- Kindling, a model of permanent brain change, follows repeated seizures.
- Immediate-early genes (IEGs) are rapidly induced in neurons after seizures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of immediate-early genes in mediating long-term neural changes.
- To explore how IEGs contribute to the development of the kindled state.
Main Methods:
- Studied the transient induction of IEGs (e.g., FOS, JUN) in adult neurons following seizure activity (afterdischarges, ECS, chemical seizures).
- Hypothesized that IEG products, as DNA-binding proteins, regulate the transcription of late-effector genes.
Main Results:
- IEGs are rapidly and transiently expressed in neurons post-seizure.
- IEG products are proposed to coordinate the transcription of late-effector genes.
- Late-effector genes may encode proteins responsible for permanent biochemical/morphological brain alterations.
Conclusions:
- Immediate-early genes may function as molecular switches initiating neuronal plasticity programs.
- This IEG-mediated pathway could underlie the permanent changes observed in kindling.
- IEGs link transient neuronal activation to long-lasting functional brain modifications.
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