Skip to main content
PMC home page
Protein & Cell logoLink to Protein & Cell
. 2010 Jul 7;1(6):503–506. doi: 10.1007/s13238-010-0077-z

Forgetting and small G protein Rac

Yichun Shuai 1,2, Yi Zhong 1,2,✉
PMCID: PMC4875324  PMID: 21204003

Abstract

It is far from understood why we forget things that are known to us seconds ago. Emerging evidence emphasizes that small G protein Rac could be a key to understanding this type of rapid early memory forgetting. This current perspective article will first review these studies and then discuss their implications for the internal processes underlying forgetting.

References

  1. Arber S., Barbayannis F.A., Hanser H., Schneider C., Stanyon C. A., Bernard O., Caroni P. Regulation of actin dynamics through phosphorylation of cofilin by LIM-kinase. Nature. 1998;393:805–809. doi: 10.1038/31729. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bamburg J.R. Proteins of the ADF/cofilin family: essential regulators of actin dynamics. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol. 1999;15:185–230. doi: 10.1146/annurev.cellbio.15.1.185. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cingolani L.A., Goda Y. Actin in action: the interplay between the actin cytoskeleton and synaptic efficacy. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2008;9:344–356. doi: 10.1038/nrn2373. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Corbetta S., D’Adamo P., Gualdoni S., Braschi C., Berardi N., de Curtis I. Hyperactivity and novelty-induced hyperreactivity in mice lacking Rac3. Behav Brain Res. 2008;186:246–255. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2007.08.019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Davis R.L. Olfactory memory formation in Drosophila: from molecular to systems neuroscience. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2005;28:275–302. doi: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.28.061604.135651. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. DeZazzo J., Tully T. Dissection of memory formation: from behavioral pharmacology to molecular genetics. Trends Neurosci. 1995;18:212–218. doi: 10.1016/0166-2236(95)93905-D. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Ebbinghaus, H. (1885/1913). Memory. A Contribution to Experimental Psychology. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed]
  8. Edwards D.C., Sanders L.C., Bokoch G.M., Gill G.N. Activation of LIM-kinase by Pak1 couples Rac/Cdc42 GTPase signalling to actin cytoskeletal dynamics. Nat Cell Biol. 1999;1:253–259. doi: 10.1038/12963. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Etienne-Manneville S., Hall A. Rho GTPases in cell biology. Nature. 2002;420:629–635. doi: 10.1038/nature01148. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Fukazawa Y., Saitoh Y., Ozawa F., Ohta Y., Mizuno K., Inokuchi K. Hippocampal LTP is accompanied by enhanced F-actin content within the dendritic spine that is essential for late LTP maintenance in vivo. Neuron. 2003;38:447–460. doi: 10.1016/S0896-6273(03)00206-X. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Jonides J., Lewis R.L., Nee D.E., Lustig C.A., Berman M.G., Moore K.S. The mind and brain of short-term memory. Annu Rev Psychol. 2008;59:193–224. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093615. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kandel E.R. The molecular biology of memory storage: a dialogue between genes and synapses. Science. 2001;294:1030–1038. doi: 10.1126/science.1067020. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Lamprecht R., LeDoux J. Structural plasticity and memory. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2004;5:45–54. doi: 10.1038/nrn1301. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lynch G., Rex C.S., Chen L.Y., Gall C.M. The substrates of memory: defects, treatments, and enhancement. Eur J Pharmacol. 2008;585:2–13. doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2007.11.082. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. McGeoch J.A. Forgetting and the law of disuse. Psychol Rev. 1932;39:352–370. doi: 10.1037/h0069819. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  16. McGuire S.E., Le P.T., Osborn A.J., Matsumoto K., Davis R.L. Spatiotemporal rescue of memory dysfunction in Drosophila. Science. 2003;302:1765–1768. doi: 10.1126/science.1089035. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Meng Y., Zhang Y., Tregoubov V., Janus C., Cruz L., Jackson M., Lu W.Y., MacDonald J.F., Wang J.Y., Falls D.L., et al. Abnormal spine morphology and enhanced LTP in LIMK-1 knockout mice. Neuron. 2002;35:121–133. doi: 10.1016/S0896-6273(02)00758-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Ng J., Luo L. Rho GTPases regulate axon growth through convergent and divergent signaling pathways. Neuron. 2004;44:779–793. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2004.11.014. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Okamoto K., Nagai T., Miyawaki A., Hayashi Y. Rapid and persistent modulation of actin dynamics regulates postsynaptic reorganization underlying bidirectional plasticity. Nat Neurosci. 2004;7:1104–1112. doi: 10.1038/nn1311. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Ouyang Y., Wong M., Capani F., Rensing N., Lee C.S., Liu Q., Neusch C., Martone M.E., Wu J.Y., Yamada K., et al. Transient decrease in F-actin may be necessary for translocation of proteins into dendritic spines. Eur J Neurosci. 2005;22:2995–3005. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2005.04521.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Shuai Y., Lu B., Hu Y., Wang L., Sun K., Zhong Y. Forgetting is regulated through Rac activity in Drosophila. Cell. 2010;140:579–589. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2009.12.044. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Tully T., Preat T., Boynton S.C., Del Vecchio M. Genetic dissection of consolidated memory in Drosophila. Cell. 1994;79:35–47. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(94)90398-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Vosshall L.B. Into the mind of a fly. Nature. 2007;450:193–197. doi: 10.1038/nature06335. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Yang N., Higuchi O., Ohashi K., Nagata K., Wada A., Kangawa K., Nishida E., Mizuno K. Cofilin phosphorylation by LIM-kinase 1 and its role in Rac-mediated actin reorganization. Nature. 1998;393:809–812. doi: 10.1038/31735. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Protein & Cell are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES