Requirement of the immediate early gene vesl-1S/homer-1a for fear memory formation.

The formation of long-term memory (LTM) and the late phase of long-term potentiation (L-LTP) depend on macromolecule synthesis, translation, and transcription in neurons. vesl-1S (VASP/Ena-related gene upregulated during seizure and LTP, also known as homer-1a) is an LTP-induced immediate early gene. The short form of Vesl (Vesl-1S) is an alternatively spliced isoform of the vesl-1 gene, which also encodes the long form of the Vesl protein (Vesl-1L). Vesl-1L is a postsynaptic scaffolding protein that binds to and modulates the metabotropic glutamate receptor 1/5 (mGluR1/5), the IP3 receptor, and the ryanodine receptor. Vesl-1 null mutant mice show abnormal behavior, which includes anxiety- and depression-related behaviors, and an increase in cocaine-induced locomotion; however, the function of the short form of Vesl in behavior is poorly understood because of the lack of short-form-specific knockout mice.

Pubmed ID: 19265511