%0 Journal Article
%T Ras每ERK Signaling in Behavior: Old Questions and New Perspectives
%A Stefania Fasano
%A Riccardo Brambilla
%J Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
%D 2011
%I Frontiers Media
%R 10.3389/fnbeh.2011.00079
%X The role of Ras每ERK signaling in behavioral plasticity is well established. Inhibition studies using the blood每brain barrier permeable drug SL327 have conclusively demonstrated that this neuronal cell signaling cascade is a crucial component of the synaptic machinery implicated in the formation of various forms of long-term memory, from spatial learning to fear and operant conditioning. However, abnormal Ras每ERK signaling has also been linked to a number of neuropsychiatric conditions, including mental retardation syndromes (※RASopathies§), drug addiction, and L-DOPA induced dyskinesia (LID). The work recently done on these brain disorders has pointed to previously underappreciated roles of Ras每ERK in specific subsets of neurons, like GABAergic interneurons of the hippocampus or the cortex, as well as in the medium spiny neurons of the striatum. Here we will highlight the open questions related to Ras每ERK signaling in these behavioral manifestations and propose crucial experiments for the future.
%K Ras
%K ERK
%K neurofibromin
%K ERK1
%K drug addiction
%K L-DOPA induced dyskinesia
%K RASopathies
%K Ras-GRF1
%U http://www.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2011.00079/abstract