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. A gene discovery program also seeks to identify new genes, which function down-stream 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.
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Scott, R., Bourtchuladze, R., Gossweiler, S. et al. CREB and the discovery of cognitive enhancers. J Mol Neurosci 19, 171–177 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-002-0029-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-002-0029-z