Chromatin plasticity predetermines neuronal eligibility for memory trace formation

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Santoni, Giulia; Astori, Simone; Leleu, Marion; Glauser, Liliane; Zamora, Simon A.; Schioppa, Myriam; Tarulli, Isabella; Sandi, Carmen; Graff, Johannes
• 署名单位: Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+); Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+); Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; University of Aberdeen; Fundacao Champalimaud
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-9967
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adg9982
• 发表日期: 2024-07-26
• 关键词: histone acetylation; excitability; acetyltransferase; interneurons; allocation; size

摘要

Memories are encoded by sparse populations of neurons but how such sparsity arises remains largely unknown. We found that a neuron's eligibility to be recruited into the memory trace depends on its epigenetic state prior to encoding. Principal neurons in the mouse lateral amygdala display intrinsic chromatin plasticity, which when experimentally elevated favors neuronal allocation into the encoding ensemble. Such chromatin plasticity occurred at genomic regions underlying synaptic plasticity and was accompanied by increased neuronal excitability in single neurons in real time. Lastly, optogenetic silencing of the epigenetically altered neurons prevented memory expression, revealing a cell-autonomous relationship between chromatin plasticity and memory trace formation. These results identify the epigenetic state of a neuron as a key factor enabling information encoding.