Immediate early gene c-fos regulates the synthesis of phospholipids but not of gangliosides

J Neurosci Res. 1996 Jan 1;43(1):93-8. doi: 10.1002/jnr.490430112.

Abstract

Retinal ganglion cells isolated from chicks that in vivo were exposed to light have a higher phospholipid labeling capacity than those obtained from animals in the dark. Actinomycin D or a mixture of protein synthesis inhibitors or of antisense oligonucleotides to c-fos plus c-jun injected intraocularly 1 hr prior to the stimulation period, abolished the light-dark differences for phospholipids but not for gangliosides. Light stimulation induced the formation (and/or stabilization) of c-fos mRNA and of the protein c-Fos, indicating that immediate early gene induction, and consequently the synthesis of the protein(s) encoded, is essential to increase the synthesis of phospholipids but not of gangliosides. These results suggest a novel mechanism by which immediate early genes engram neural cells, modifying specifically the metabolism of cell constituents producing long-lasting changes in the cells.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • Chickens
  • Dactinomycin / pharmacology
  • Gangliosides / biosynthesis*
  • Gene Expression Regulation* / radiation effects
  • Genes, Immediate-Early*
  • Genes, fos*
  • Light
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Oligonucleotides, Antisense / pharmacology
  • Phospholipids / biosynthesis*
  • Protein Synthesis Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / physiology*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun / physiology
  • Retinal Ganglion Cells / metabolism*
  • Retinal Ganglion Cells / radiation effects
  • Signal Transduction / radiation effects
  • Transcriptional Activation

Substances

  • Gangliosides
  • Oligonucleotides, Antisense
  • Phospholipids
  • Protein Synthesis Inhibitors
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun
  • Dactinomycin