Study of the molecular mechanisms in which mild fasting facilitates memory

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25640018
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Neurophysiology / General neuroscience
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: HIRANO yukinori 京都大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (40580121)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 記憶 / CRTC / ショウジョウバエ / CREB

Outline of Final Research Achievements

I have reported that fasting activates a transcription factor, CRTC and thereby facilitating memory in Drosophila. This study was focused on how this finding is applied to improve memory deficits. First, I tested whether well-known mutant flies with memory deficits can be improved by fasting and also by activation of CRTC. The memory of the mutants defective in the cAMP pathway was improved by both manipulations. This suggests that the cAMP-related disorder could be improved by activation of CRTC. Second, I sought to determine the molecular pathway inducing CRTC activation upon fasting. However, no candidate proteins affected fasting-dependent memory. Other proteins could regulate CRTC during fasting, which should be revealed in the future study.

Free Research Field

神経科学