SALM4 negatively regulates NMDA receptor function and fear memory consolidation

Eunkyung Lie, Yeji Yeo, Eun Jae Lee, Wangyong Shin, Kyungdeok Kim, Kyung Ah Han, Esther Yang, Tae Yong Choi, Mihyun Bae, Suho Lee, Seung Min Um, Se Young Choi, Hyun Kim, Jaewon Ko, Eunjoon Kim

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    3 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Many synaptic adhesion molecules positively regulate synapse development and function, but relatively little is known about negative regulation. SALM4/Lrfn3 (synaptic adhesion-like molecule 4/leucine rich repeat and fibronectin type III domain containing 3) inhibits synapse development by suppressing other SALM family proteins, but whether SALM4 also inhibits synaptic function and specific behaviors remains unclear. Here we show that SALM4-knockout (Lrfn3−/−) male mice display enhanced contextual fear memory consolidation (7-day post-training) but not acquisition or 1-day retention, and exhibit normal cued fear, spatial, and object-recognition memory. The Lrfn3−/− hippocampus show increased currents of GluN2B-containing N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (GluN2B-NMDARs), but not α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate (AMPA) receptors (AMPARs), which requires the presynaptic receptor tyrosine phosphatase PTPσ. Chronic treatment of Lrfn3−/− mice with fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor used to treat excessive fear memory that directly inhibits GluN2B-NMDARs, normalizes NMDAR function and contextual fear memory consolidation in Lrfn3−/− mice, although the GluN2B-specific NMDAR antagonist ifenprodil was not sufficient to reverse the enhanced fear memory consolidation. These results suggest that SALM4 suppresses excessive GluN2B-NMDAR (not AMPAR) function and fear memory consolidation (not acquisition).

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number1138
    JournalCommunications Biology
    Volume4
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2021 Dec

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2017M3C7A1079692 to H.K.) the Brain Research Program (2017M3C7A1023470 to J.K.) and the Institute for Basic Science (IBS-R002-D1 to E.K.).

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2021, The Author(s).

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Medicine (miscellaneous)
    • General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
    • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

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