Genome-Wide Analysis of MEF2 Transcriptional Program Reveals Synaptic Target Genes and Neuronal Activity-Dependent Polyadenylation Site Selection
Abstract
Although many transcription factors are known to control important aspects of neural development, the genome-wide programs that are directly regulated by these factors are not known. We have characterized the genetic program that is activated by MEF2, a key regulator of activity-dependent synapse development. These MEF2 target genes have diverse functions at synapses, revealing a broad role for MEF2 in synapse development. Several of the MEF2 targets are mutated in human neurological disorders including epilepsy and autism spectrum disorders, suggesting that these disorders may be caused by disruption of an activity-dependent gene program that controls synapse development. Our analyses also reveal that neuronal activity promotes alternative polyadenylation site usage at many of the MEF2 target genes, leading to the production of truncated mRNAs that may have different functions than their full-length counterparts. Taken together, these analyses suggest that the ubiquitously expressed transcription factor MEF2 regulates an intricate transcriptional program in neurons that controls synapse development.
Additional Information
© 2008 Elsevier. Accepted: November 13, 2008. Published: December 24, 2008. We thank members of the Greenberg lab for their helpful suggestions and discussions and for critical reading of the manuscript. In particular, we thank J. Zieg for assistance with figures and S. Vasquez for preparing primary neuronal cell cultures. We thank the Molecular Genetics Core Facility at Children's Hospital Boston for assistance with microarrays. We also thank Soren Impey and Richard H. Goodman for their early guidance concerning genome-wide applications of ChIP and Gabriel Kreiman for bioinformatics help. M.E.G. acknowledges the generous support of the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation and the generous support of the F.M. Kirby Foundation to the F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center of Children's Hospital Boston. This work was supported by a Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund postdoctoral fellowship (T.K.K), a Lefler postdoctoral fellowship (T.K.K.), a Helen Hay Whitney postdoctoral fellowship (J.M.G.), a National Library of Medicine training fellowship in Biomedical Informatics (D.A.H.), Developmental Disability Research Center grant HD18655 and National Institutes of Health grant NS028829 (M.E.G.).Attached Files
Accepted Version - nihms85029.pdf
Supplemental Material - mmc1.pdf
Supplemental Material - mmc2.xls
Files
Additional details
- PMCID
- PMC2630178
- Eprint ID
- 60784
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20151005-154745989
- Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation
- F. M. Kirby Foundation
- Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research
- Lefler postdoctoral fellowship
- Helen Hay Whitney Foundation
- National Library of Medicine training fellowship
- HD18655
- NIH
- NS028829
- NIH
- Created
-
2015-10-06Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field