The role of Importin-7 (IPO7) during activity-dependent nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of transcription modulators in hippocampal neurons

• Main Author: Chin, Pei Wern
• Other Authors: Ch'ng Toh Hean
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Molecular biology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/72466
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Importin-7, a member of the importin-beta superfamily of nuclear adaptor proteins, is thought to shuttle activated MAPK into the nucleus to induce transcription-dependent encoding of long-term memories in Drosophila. However, little is known about the function of importin-7, its cellular distribution, mechanisms of action and the additional cargo proteins it binds to. This project aims to characterize importin-7 in rodent hippocampal neurons with the ultimate goal of deciphering its function during learning and memory. Our initial findings indicate that importin-7 is localized at the cytosol, dendrites and spines in mature hippocampal neurons. We found that cytosolic importin- 7 undergoes activity-dependent translocation into the nucleus upon chemical long-term potentiation in acute whole brain slices. To identify cargo proteins that bind to importin-7 in the brain, we performed co-immunoprecipitation studies for importin-7 and analyzed affinity-purified proteins via mass spectrometry, but results are currently pending. Overall, our initial characterization studies hint that importin-7 could be involved in the activity-dependent transport of synaptic proteins into the nucleus during stimuli associated with transcription-dependent long-term plasticity.