Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Memories.... (continued)
Researchers at Scripps and UCSD have identified a protein, CREB Binding Protein (CBP), which is essential for memory consolidation.
This is exciting, but not as much so as it may sound. I'm not clear that CBP's effects are specific to memory (they may be, but the release doesn't say), so it could be more germane to gene regulation in general. CBP acetylates lysine on histones, facilitating the unwinding of chromatin to allow for gene transcription and protein production. Mice who have CBP function knocked out have trouble forming long-term memories. Interesting.
The best line in the release, however, is:
This is exciting, but not as much so as it may sound. I'm not clear that CBP's effects are specific to memory (they may be, but the release doesn't say), so it could be more germane to gene regulation in general. CBP acetylates lysine on histones, facilitating the unwinding of chromatin to allow for gene transcription and protein production. Mice who have CBP function knocked out have trouble forming long-term memories. Interesting.
The best line in the release, however, is:
Histones are the fashion mavens of the molecular worldÂthey must be wearing something.Heehee.
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