The Journal of biological chemistryJun 5, 2014

Daily cycles of protein changes in the mouse memory area may affect how memories last

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 29, 2026

Abstract

Markers of mRNA translation initiation show higher activity during daytime in the mouse hippocampus.

Activation of translation initiation markers occurs during training for contextual memory.
Diurnal oscillation of these markers is observed, peaking between zeitgeber times 4-8 hours.
Memory-deficient mice lacking specific adenylyl cyclases lose this daily pattern of translation initiation.
Disruption of the circadian rhythm results in impaired phosphorylation of key proteins associated with translation.
Inhibition of translation 48 hours post-training negatively affects memory persistence.

Simplified

Translation of mRNA plays a critical role in consolidation of long-term memory. Here, we report that markers of initiation of mRNA translation are activated during training for contextual memory and that they undergo diurnal oscillation in the mouse hippocampus with maximal activity observed during the daytime (zeitgeber time 4-8 h). Phosphorylation and activation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E), eIF4E-binding protein 1 (4EBP1), ribosomal protein S6, and eIF4F cap-complex formation, all of which are markers for translation initiation, were higher in the hippocampus during the daytime compared with night. The circadian oscillation in markers of mRNA translation was lost in memory-deficient transgenic mice lacking calmodulin-stimulated adenylyl cyclases. Moreover, disruption of the circadian rhythm blocked diurnal oscillations in eIF4E, 4EBP1, rpS6, Akt, and ERK1/2 phosphorylation and impaired memory consolidation. Furthermore, repeated inhibition of translation in the hippocampus 48 h after contextual training with the protein synthesis inhibitor anisomycin impaired memory persistence. We conclude that repeated activation of markers of translation initiation in hippocampus during the circadian cycle might be critical for memory persistence.

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Daily cycles of protein changes in the mouse memory area may affect how memories last

Abstract

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