Basal and kainate-induced gene expression in A-CREB mouse hippocampi

The cAMP responsive element binding protein (CREB) pathway has been involved in two major cascades of gene expression regulating neuronal function. The first one presents CREB as a critical component of the molecular switch that control longlasting forms of neuronal plasticity and learning. The second one relates CREB to neuronal survival and protection. To investigate the role of CREB-dependent gene expression in neuronal plasticity and survival in vivo, we generated bitransgenic mice expressing A-CREB, an artificial peptide with strong and broad inhibitory effect on the CREB family, in forebrain neurons in a regulatable manner. The expression of ACREB in hippocampal neurons impaired L-LTP, reduced intrinsic excitability and the susceptibility to induced seizures, and altered both basal and activity-driven gene expression. In the long-term, the chronic inhibition of CREB function caused severe loss of neurons in the CA1 subfield as well as in other brain regions. Our experiments confirmed previous findings in CREB deficient mutants and revealed new aspects of CREB-dependent gene expression in the hippocampus supporting a dual role for CREB-dependent gene expression regulating intrinsic and synaptic plasticity and promoting neuronal survival. manufacturer's protocol. Each sample contained total RNA from the hippocampi of a group of 3-4 three weeks old mice. We obtained duplicate samples for each experimental condition (in total 14 WT and 20 A-CREB mice where used in this experiment). Mouse Genome 430 2.0 genechips were hybridized, stained, washed and screened for quality according to the manufacturer's protocol.