

This complex is corrupted by the mutation of a specific protein molecule, and replacing that mutated molecule in laboratory mice restores their long-term memory - suggesting a possible gene therapy for humans, the researchers reported.

Protein complexes access genes - portions of DNA - and turn them on and off at the right time to enable neurons in the brain to work properly, said Marcelo Wood, associate professor at UCI's Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and director of the Inter-departmental Neuroscience Pro-gram.

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If you unraveled all of the chromosomes in just one cell and lined them up, there would be 6 feet of DNA, which determines the traits we inherit. DNA resides in the microscopic nucleus of a cell and is packed in chromatin. Chromatin is made of repeating units of nucleosomes, a specific length of DNA wrapped around balls of proteins called histones.

When viewed through a microscope, chromatin looks like beads on a string. DNA must be wrapped around nucleosomes so that it can be compacted about 10,000 times to fit in a cell's nucleus.

Accessing genes in the face of that compaction becomes a physical problem. If genes can't be accessed, they can't get turned on. The nBAF protein complex, necessary for memory, attaches to chromatin and physically unravels the nucleosomes, allowing for a gene to be turned on and off. That action is called "nucleosome remodeling."


Nucleosome remodeling plays a major role in gene function and could also play a role in disorders and diseases such as cancer, obesity and addiction, Wood said.

The emerging field of epigenetics - changes to the expression of genes without any changes in their underlying DNA coding - suggests that the environment and the things we're exposed to can alter our gene function without changing our genetics.





Epigenetics links nurture (environment) and nature (genetics). In contrast to our genome - the DNA we're born with - our epigenome can be altered by environmental factors, such as physical and mental stress, diet and drugs. This suggests that some of the disease and disorders we get can be prevented.

However, epigenetics is "transgenerational." That means grandma's epigenome, including her disorders, may bypass her daughter and manifest in her granddaughter.

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