Thomas Oertner: Is cFos a marker of neuronal activity?

Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf

In the hippocampus, high frequency spiking induces synaptic potentiation and expression of the immediate early gene cFos. For this reason, cFos is often used to label neurons that are involved in memory formation, so-called engram neurons. We have used optogenetic approaches to investigate the relation between spiking and cFos expression. Surprisingly, cFos can induced at extremely low frequencies (0.1 Hz) if there is a high degree of synchrony. In the dentate gyrus of mice trained in a water maze, cFos is not only regulated by acute spiking, but also reflects the history of activity over several days. I will discuss mechanisms and potential functions of this cellular memory system.

Guests are welcome! Please contact us, if you interested. We will provide the meeting link.

Organized by

Marina Mikhaylova / Margret Franke