Identification and analysis of plasticity-induced late-response genes

The excitatory neurotransmitter, glutamate, activates N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors to induce long-lasting synaptic changes through alterations in gene expression. It is believed that these long-lasting changes contribute to learning and memory, drug tolerance, and ischemic preconditioning. To identify NMDA-induced late-response genes, we used a powerful gene-identification method, differential analysis of primary cDNA library expression (DAzLE), and cDNA microarray from primary cortical neurons. We report here that a variety of genes, which we have named plasticity-induced genes (PLINGs), are up-regulated with differential expression patterns after NMDA receptor activation, indicating that there is a broad and dynamic range of long-lasting neuronal responses that occur through NMDA receptor activation. Our results provide a molecular dissection of the activity-dependent long-lasting neuronal responses induced by NMDA receptor activation.