RESUMEN
The nervous system adapts to experience by inducing a transcriptional program that controls important aspects of synaptic plasticity. Although the molecular mechanisms of experience-dependent plasticity are well characterized in excitatory neurons, the mechanisms that regulate this process in inhibitory neurons are only poorly understood. Here, we describe a transcriptional program that is induced by neuronal activity in inhibitory neurons. We find that, while neuronal activity induces expression of early-response transcription factors such as Npas4 in both excitatory and inhibitory neurons, Npas4 activates distinct programs of late-response genes in inhibitory and excitatory neurons. These late-response genes differentially regulate synaptic input to these two types of neurons, promoting inhibition onto excitatory neurons while inducing excitation onto inhibitory neurons. These findings suggest that the functional outcomes of activity-induced transcriptional responses are adapted in a cell-type-specific manner to achieve a circuit-wide homeostatic response.
Asunto(s)
Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/metabolismo , Regulación de la Expresión Génica , Neuronas/metabolismo , Transcripción Genética , Animales , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/genética , Técnicas de Cultivo de Célula , Embrión de Mamíferos/citología , Ratones , Ratones Noqueados , Sinapsis/metabolismoRESUMEN
Enhancer elements are genomic regulatory sequences that direct the selective expression of genes so that genetically identical cells can differentiate and acquire the highly specialized forms and functions required to build a functioning animal. To differentiate, cells must select from among the â¼106 enhancers encoded in the genome the thousands of enhancers that drive the gene programs that impart their distinct features. We used a genetic approach to identify transcription factors (TFs) required for enhancer selection in fibroblasts. This revealed that the broadly expressed, growth-factor-inducible TFs FOS/JUN (AP-1) play a central role in enhancer selection. FOS/JUN selects enhancers together with cell-type-specific TFs by collaboratively binding to nucleosomal enhancers and recruiting the SWI/SNF (BAF) chromatin remodeling complex to establish accessible chromatin. These experiments demonstrate how environmental signals acting via FOS/JUN and BAF coordinate with cell-type-specific TFs to select enhancer repertoires that enable differentiation during development.
Asunto(s)
Cromatina/metabolismo , Proteínas Cromosómicas no Histona/metabolismo , Elementos de Facilitación Genéticos , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-fos/fisiología , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismo , Factores de Transcripción/fisiología , Animales , Cromatina/genética , Proteínas Cromosómicas no Histona/genética , Femenino , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica , Masculino , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Ratones Noqueados , Nucleosomas , Regiones Promotoras Genéticas , Factores de Transcripción/genéticaRESUMEN
Experience-dependent gene transcription is required for nervous system development and function. However, the DNA regulatory elements that control this program of gene expression are not well defined. Here we characterize the enhancers that function across the genome to mediate activity-dependent transcription in mouse cortical neurons. We find that the subset of enhancers enriched for monomethylation of histone H3 Lys4 (H3K4me1) and binding of the transcriptional coactivator CREBBP (also called CBP) that shows increased acetylation of histone H3 Lys27 (H3K27ac) after membrane depolarization of cortical neurons functions to regulate activity-dependent transcription. A subset of these enhancers appears to require binding of FOS, which was previously thought to bind primarily to promoters. These findings suggest that FOS functions at enhancers to control activity-dependent gene programs that are critical for nervous system function and provide a resource of functional cis-regulatory elements that may give insight into the genetic variants that contribute to brain development and disease.