期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2010
卷号：107
期号：12
页码：5605-5610
DOI：10.1073/pnas.0910578107
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：The involvement of epigenetic alterations in mediating effects of estrogens on memory is unknown. The present study determined whether histone acetylation and DNA methylation are critical for the potent estrogen 17{beta}-estradiol (E2) to enhance object recognition memory. We show that dorsal hippocampal E2 infusion increases acetylation of dorsal hippocampal histone H3, but not H4--an effect blocked by dorsal hippocampal inhibition of ERK activation. Further, intrahippocampal inhibition of ERK activation or DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) activity blocked the memory-enhancing effects of E2. Consistent with these effects, E2 decreased levels of HDAC2 protein and increased DNMT expression in the dorsal hippocampus. These findings provide evidence that the beneficial effects of E2 on memory consolidation are associated with epigenetic alterations, and suggest these can be triggered by dorsal hippocampal ERK signaling.
