Rpd3/CoRest-mediated activity-dependent transcription regulates the flexibility in memory updating in Drosophila

Abstract

Consolidated memory can be preserved or updated depending on the environmental change. Although such conflicting regulation may happen during memory updating, the flexibility of memory updating may have already been determined in the initial memory consolidation process. Here, we explored the gating mechanism for activity-dependent transcription in memory consolidation, which is unexpectedly linked to the later memory updating in Drosophila. Through proteomic analysis, we discovered that the compositional change in the transcriptional repressor, which contains the histone deacetylase Rpd3 and CoRest, acts as the gating mechanism that opens and closes the time window for activity-dependent transcription. Opening the gate through the compositional change in Rpd3/CoRest is required for memory consolidation, but closing the gate through Rpd3/CoRest is significant to limit future memory updating. Our data indicate that the flexibility of memory updating is determined through the initial activity-dependent transcription, providing a mechanism involved in defining memory state.