A Biochemical Blueprint for Long-Term Memory
Abstract
The greatest barrier to the long-term storage of information in a biological system is the inevitability of molecular turnover. In this review, we discuss the features required of any chemical mechanism capable of overcoming this obstacle, positing that a specific type of “mnemogenic”, or memory-forming, chemical reaction is the basis of the engram. We describe how molecules as diverse as protein kinases, prions, and transcription factors can participate in mnemogenic reactions, and outline a blueprint for memory that postulates mnemogenic reactions at the synapse and in the nucleus and considers the constraints imposed by requirements for high fidelity and the ability to forget. This sort of a priori analysis may facilitate directed experimental approaches to understanding the mechanisms of lifelong memory.
Footnotes
-
↵1 Corresponding author.
-
↵2 However, there is one scenario in which the new gene products could represent species X. When a large proportion of the cell’s synapses are simultaneously potentiated, e.g., by an LTP-inducing stimulus, the basal level of speciesX could be intensified to meet the high demand. In this case, signaling to the nucleus would stimulate amplification of an already-initiated mnemogenic reaction.
-
- Received November 29, 1998.
- Accepted July 15, 1999.
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
