Topic: Arc/Arg3.1

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a highly disabling psychiatric syndrome affecting many aspects of behavior and cognitive functions, including memory. MDD is strongly associated with stress and with deficits in specific subpopulations of GABAergic interneurons. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms linking these observations are not fully understood. The activity-regulated gene Arc/Arg3.1 is rapidly up-regulated by acquiring novel experience, learning and memory, and synaptic plasticity-inducing stimuli1,2. Acute stress has also been reported to elevate the levels of Arc/Arg3.1 mRNA o

The encoding or retrieval of a contextual fear memory recruits the activity of thousands of neurons across the mammalian brain. This ensemble of cells is often identified by immediate-early genes (IEGs), which are expressed following neuronal activity, but the extent to which the expression pattern of one IEG reflects another is unclear. Here, we examined the IEGs Arc/Arg3.1 and c-Fos across several brain regions during fear memory encoding or retrieval. Mice were administered a 3-shock contextual fear conditioning (CFC) paradigm and sacrificed 1h later (encoding), 1 h after context re-exposur

Communication between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex (HPC, PFC) is necessary for consolidating memories during both wakefulness and sleep. The activity-regulated gene Arc/Arg3.1 is essential in mediating memory consolidation1 and has been shown to influence memory-associated network activity2,3.We here investigate the impact of hippocampal Arc/Arg3.1 expression on network dynamics between the HPC and PFC during spontaneous brain state changes in sleep induced by urethane anesthesia. We used virus-mediated conditional deletion of Arc/Arg3.1 in the hippocampus and silicon probes to re

The activity-regulated gene Arc/Arg3.1 is known for its vital role in memory consolidation and synaptic plasticity [1]. Our recent research revealed a novel role for Arc/Arg3.1 in developing brain circuits. In the hippocampus, a spontaneous wave of Arc/Arg3.1 upregulation is observed during the first postnatal month, crucial for establishing proper spatial learning and intact hippocampal oscillations in adult mice [2]. Since the emergence of hippocampal oscillatory rhythms relies on an intricate interplay between excitatory and inhibitory synaptic connections, we hypothesized that early postna