Phosphorylation of MSI-1 is Implicated in the Regulation of Associative Memory in Caenorhabditis Elegans

Overview

Journal PLoS Genet

Specialty Genetics

Date 2022 Oct 12

PMID 36223338

Authors

Pavlina Mastrandreas

Csaba Boglari

Andreas Arnold

Fabian Peter

Dominique J-F de Quervain

Andreas Papassotiropoulos

Attila Stetak

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The Musashi family of RNA-binding proteins controls several biological processes including stem cell maintenance, cell division and neural function. Previously, we demonstrated that the C. elegans Musashi ortholog, msi-1, regulates forgetting via translational repression of the Arp2/3 actin-branching complex. However, the mechanisms controlling MSI-1 activity during the regulation of forgetting are currently unknown. Here we investigated the effects of protein phosphorylation on MSI-1 activity. We showed that MSI-1 function is likely controlled by alterations of its activity rather than its expression levels. Furthermore, we found that MSI-1 is phosphorylated and using mass spectrometry we identified MSI-1 phosphorylation at three residues (T18, S19 and S34). CRISPR-based manipulations of MSI-1 phosphorylation sites revealed that phosphorylation is necessary for MSI-1 function in both short- and long-term aversive olfactory associative memory. Thus, our study provides insight into the mechanisms regulating memory-related MSI-1 activity and may facilitate the development of novel therapeutic approaches.

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