A Viral (Arc)hive for Metazoan Memory

Nicholas F Parrish; Keizo Tomonaga

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2017.12.029

A Viral (Arc)hive for Metazoan Memory

Cell. 2018 Jan 11;172(1-2):8-10. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.12.029.

Authors

Nicholas F Parrish¹, Keizo Tomonaga²

Affiliations

¹ Section of Surgical Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
² Department of Virus Research, Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan; Department of Mammalian Regulatory Network, Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 29328922
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.12.029

Abstract

Arc, a master regulator of synaptic plasticity, contains sequence elements that are evolutionarily related to retrotransposon Gag genes. Two related papers in this issue of Cell show that Arc retains retroviral-like capsid-forming ability and can transmit mRNA between cells in the nervous system, a process that may be important for synaptic function.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Comment

MeSH terms

Animals
Cytoskeletal Proteins
Gene Products, gag*
Nerve Tissue Proteins
Neuronal Plasticity
Presynaptic Terminals*
RNA
Retroviridae

Substances

Cytoskeletal Proteins
Gene Products, gag
Nerve Tissue Proteins
RNA