Activity-Dependent Gene Expression in Neurons

The function of the nervous system in conveying and processing information necessary to interact with the environment confers unique aspects on how the expression of genes in neurons is regulated. Three salient factors are that (1) neurons are the largest and among the most morphologically complex of all cells, with strict polarity, subcellular compartmentation, and long-distant transport of gene products, signaling molecules, and other materials; (2) information is coded in the temporal firing pattern of membrane depolarization; and (3) neurons must maintain a stable homeostatic level of activation to function so stimuli do not normally drive intracellular signaling to steady state. Each of these factors can require special methods of analysis differing from approaches used in non-neuronal cells. This review considers these three aspects of neuronal gene expression and the current approaches being used to analyze these special features of how the neuronal transcriptome is modulated by action potential firing.