Arc

Arc, for activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (also known as Arg3.1), is a plasticity protein first characterized in 1995. Arc is a member of the immediate-early gene (IEG) family, a rapidly activated class of genes functionally defined by their ability to be transcribed in the presence of protein synthesis inhibitors. Arc mRNA is localized to activated synaptic sites in an NMDA receptor-dependent manner, where the newly translated protein is believed to play a critical role in learning and memory-related molecular processes. Arc is widely considered to be an important protein in neurobiology because of its activity regulation, localization, and utility as a marker for plastic changes in the brain. Along with other IEGs such as zif268 and Homer 1a, Arc is also a significant tool for systems neuroscience as illustrated by the development of the cellular compartment analysis of temporal activity by fluorescence in situ hybridization, or catFISH technique (see fluorescent in situ hybridization).

The Activity-Regulated Cytoskeletal-Associated Protein (Arc/Arg3.1) Is Required for Reconsolidation of a Pavlovian Fear Memory

The activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein (Arc/Arg3.1) is an immediate-early gene that has been widely implicated in synaptic plasticity and in the consolidation of a variety of hippocampal- and amygdala-dependent memory tasks. The functional role of Arc/Arg3.1 in memory reconsolidation processes, however, has not been systematically studied. In the present study, we examined the role of Arc/Arg3.1 in the reconsolidation of an amygdala-dependent auditory pavlovian fear memory. We show that Arc/Arg3.1 protein is regulated in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA) by retrieval of an auditory fear memory. Next, we show that antisense knockdown of Arc/Arg3.1 in the LA impairs fear memory reconsolidation of both a recent (1-d-old) as well as a well-consolidated (2-week-old) fear memory; that is, post-retrieval short-term memory, tested at 3 h after retrieval, is intact, whereas post-retrieval long-term memory, tested ∼24 h after retrieval, is significantly impaired. The effect of Arc/Arg3.1 knockdown was observed to be time limited and specific to an actively reactivated fear memory. Moreover, the reconsolidation deficit induced by Arc/Arg3.1 knockdown was not found to be sensitive to spontaneous recovery, reinstatement, or a shift in the testing context, suggesting that our behavioral effects are not attributable to facilitated extinction. Collectively, our findings provide the first comprehensive look at the functional role of Arc/Arg3.1 in memory reconsolidation processes in the mammalian brain.