Searching across hundreds of databases

Our searching services are busy right now. Your search will reload in five seconds.

X
Forgot Password

If you have forgotten your password you can enter your email here and get a temporary password sent to your email.

X
Forgot Password

If you have forgotten your password you can enter your email here and get a temporary password sent to your email.

Moderate UV Exposure Enhances Learning and Memory by Promoting a Novel Glutamate Biosynthetic Pathway in the Brain.

Cell | 2018

Sunlight exposure is known to affect mood, learning, and cognition. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we show that moderate UV exposure elevated blood urocanic acid (UCA), which then crossed the blood-brain barrier. Single-cell mass spectrometry and isotopic labeling revealed a novel intra-neuronal metabolic pathway converting UCA to glutamate (GLU) after UV exposure. This UV-triggered GLU synthesis promoted its packaging into synaptic vesicles and its release at glutamatergic terminals in the motor cortex and hippocampus. Related behaviors, like rotarod learning and object recognition memory, were enhanced after UV exposure. All UV-induced metabolic, electrophysiological, and behavioral effects could be reproduced by the intravenous injection of UCA and diminished by the application of inhibitor or short hairpin RNA (shRNA) against urocanase, an enzyme critical for the conversion of UCA to GLU. These findings reveal a new GLU biosynthetic pathway, which could contribute to some of the sunlight-induced neurobehavioral changes.

Pubmed ID: 29779945 RIS Download

Publication data is provided by the National Library of Medicine ® and PubMed ®. Data is retrieved from PubMed ® on a weekly schedule. For terms and conditions see the National Library of Medicine Terms and Conditions.

This is a list of tools and resources that we have found mentioned in this publication.


GraphPad Prism (tool)

RRID:SCR_002798

Statistical analysis software that combines scientific graphing, comprehensive curve fitting (nonlinear regression), understandable statistics, and data organization. Designed for biological research applications in pharmacology, physiology, and other biological fields for data analysis, hypothesis testing, and modeling.

View all literature mentions

HMDB (tool)

RRID:SCR_007712

Curated collection of human metabolite and human metabolism data which contains records for endogenous metabolites, with each metabolite entry containing detailed chemical, physical, biochemical, concentration, and disease information. This is further supplemented with thousands of NMR and MS spectra collected on purified reference metabolites.

View all literature mentions

Anti-NeuN (antibody)

RRID:AB_2298772

This monoclonal targets NeuN

View all literature mentions

UROC1 Antibody (antibody)

RRID:AB_11028801

This unknown targets UROC1

View all literature mentions

Anti-AMDHD1 polyclonal antibody (antibody)

RRID:AB_10672967

This polyclonal targets AMDHD1

View all literature mentions