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Updated: Nov 26, 2025
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Whole-cell Patch-clamp Recordings from Morphologically- and Neurochemically-identified Hippocampal Interneurons
Published on: September 30, 2014
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Bidirectional perisomatic inhibitory plasticity of a Fos neuronal network
Ee-Lynn Yap1, Noah L Pettit1, Christopher P Davis1
1Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Nature
|December 10, 2020
Summary
Experience activates FOS (a transcription factor) in brain cells, but how this rewires circuits is unclear. This study shows FOS and SCG2 orchestrate changes in neural inhibition, impacting memory formation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Molecular Biology
- Systems Neuroscience
Background:
- Behavioral experiences activate FOS transcription factor in specific neurons crucial for memory.
- Mechanisms of experience-driven circuit reorganization and FOS's role beyond activity marking are poorly understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mechanisms by which FOS drives circuit reorganization in response to experience.
- To determine if FOS is required for circuit reorganization and identify its gene targets involved in this process.
Main Methods:
- Studied mice exploring novel environments.
- Utilized electrophysiology, single-cell RNA-sequencing, and chromatin analysis.
- Disrupted FOS transcription factor complex function.
Main Results:
- Spatial exploration enhanced inhibition of FOS-activated neurons by parvalbumin interneurons but weakened it by cholecystokinin interneurons.
- FOS activates SCG2 gene transcription, coordinating these bidirectional inhibitory changes.
- Absence of Scg2 altered hippocampal gamma rhythms and theta phase coupling.
Conclusions:
- FOS and SCG2 play an instructive role in rewiring local inhibition to establish modulated neural networks.
- Opposing plasticity mechanisms on distinct inhibitory pathways may aid memory consolidation.
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