CREB and the discovery of cognitive enhancers

Scott, R., Bourtchuladze, R., Gossweiler, S., Dubnau, J. T., Tully, T. (August 2002) CREB and the discovery of cognitive enhancers. Journal of Molecular Neuroscience, 19 (1-2). pp. 171-177. ISSN 0895-8696

URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12212777
DOI: 10.1007/s12031-002-0029-z

Abstract

In the past few years, a series of molecular-genetic, biochemical, cellular and behavioral studies in fruit flies, sea slugs and mice have confirmed a long-standing notion that long-term memory formation depends on the synthesis of new proteins. Experiments focused on the cAMP-responsive transcription factor, CREB, have established that neural activity-induced regulation of gene transcription promotes a synaptic growth process that strengthens the connections among active neurons. This process constitutes a physical basis for the engram-and CREB is a "molecular switch" to produce the engram. Helicon Therapeutics has been formed to identify drug compounds that enhance memory formation via augmentation of CREB biochemistry. Candidate compounds have been identified from a high throughput cell-based screen and are being evaluated in animal models of memory formation. Agene discovery program also seeks to identify new genes, which function downstream of CREB during memory formation, as a source for new drug discoveries in the future. Together, these drug and gene discovery efforts promise new class of pharmaceutical therapies for the treatment of various forms of cognitive dysfunction.

Item Type: Paper
Uncontrolled Keywords: Cognitive dysfunction Alzheimers disease high throughput screen gene mutant Drosophila mouse
Subjects: diseases & disorders > mental disorders > delirium dementia cognitive disorders
therapies
organism description > animal behavior > memory
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Dubnau lab
CSHL labs > Tully lab
Depositing User: Brian Soldo
Date: August 2002
Date Deposited: 22 Mar 2012 16:26
Last Modified: 09 Apr 2013 16:13
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/25423

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