Meeting Abstract
The molecule cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) regulates a variety of cellular processes, including neuronal plasticity. Molecules involved in the initial cAMP-dependent signaling cascade have been studied, but the molecules “downstream” in the signaling cascade are relatively unknown. To thoroughly characterize the cAMP pathway, we utilized high-throughput-sequencing to query the nervous cells of a classic neuroscience model, the sea hare Aplysia californica. We treated the Aplysia central nervous system (CNS) with a cAMP analog (8-Br-cAMP) for various periods of time to activate the cellular cAMP signaling pathway. We were able to identify cAMP-dependent genes that are differentially expressed between the various ganglia subtypes of the Aplysia CNS as well the abundance of genes within ganglia over the time-course of treatment. We discovered hundreds of differentially expressed transcripts by time and tissue. These transcripts encode chromatin-remodeling genes, transcription factors, ion channels and receptors, amongst others. A portion of the transcripts are uncharacterized and potentially unique to Aplysia. These uncharacterized transcripts may influence gene expression by posttranscriptionally modifying RNAs, facilitating protein-protein interactions, or be involved in novel cell signaling. We also found long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) that may be involved in unidentified regulatory roles within the CNS. Our transcriptional study of the cAMP-dependent signaling cascade within the Aplysia CNS can potentially provide a foundation to understanding the dynamics of this crucial signaling pathway and specifically its effects on long-term memory and synaptic plasticity.
