Long-lasting stress-induced changes in neuronal alternative splicing: Stress-induced molecular changes in the mammalian brain

Ample information suggests multileveled relationships between long-term psychological stress responses and alternative splicing ? the process which yields different mRNAs from the same gene. However, the nature of these relationships remains unclear. Eran Meshorer studied the stress-induced changes in alternative splicing at Hermona Soreq?s lab and shed light on the molecular pathways that lead to such responses. Meshorer focused on a particular mRNA - acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which is neuronally-expressed, stress-responsive, and yields alternatively spliced products, thus serving as an adequate model for this purpose. The book begins with an introduction covering the general areas of stress responses, their long-term consequences, the mechanism of splicing and alternative splicing, neuritic translocation of mRNAs and highlights the AChE gene and its protein products as putative mediators of such long-term consequences. The results section depicts 3 works describing 3? and 5? alternative splicing of AChE and a potential mediator of the stress-induced responses. Finally, the book ends with a discussion on the consequences of such responses, linking stress responses with aging.