TY - JOUR T1 - Synaptic plasticity regulated by phosphorylation of PSD-95 Serine 73 in dorsal CA1 is required for contextual fear extinction JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2020.11.13.381368 SP - 2020.11.13.381368 AU - Magdalena Ziółkowska AU - Malgorzata Borczyk AU - Agata Nowacka AU - Maria Nalberczak-Skóra AU - Małgorzata Alicja Śliwińska AU - Magdalena Robacha AU - Kacper Łukasiewicz AU - Anna Cały AU - Edyta Skonieczna AU - Kamil F. Tomaszewski AU - Tomasz Wójtowicz AU - Jakub Włodarczyk AU - Tytus Bernaś AU - Ahmad Salamian AU - Kasia Radwanska Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/07/31/2020.11.13.381368.abstract N2 - The ability to extinguish fearful memories is essential for survival. Accumulating data indicate that the dorsal CA1 area (dCA1) contributes to this process. However, the cellular and molecular basis of fear memory extinction remains poorly understood. Postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD-95) regulates the structure and function of glutamatergic synapses. Here, using dCA1-targeted genetic and chemogenetic manipulations in vivo combined with PSD-95 immunostaining and 3D electron microscopy ex vivo, we demonstrate that phosphorylation of PSD-95 at serine 73 PSD-95(S73) is necessary for contextual fear extinction-induced expression of PSD-95 and synaptic plasticity. Moreover, PSD-95(S73) phosphorylation is not necessary for fear memory formation and recall but is required for extinction of contextual fear. Overall, our data shows how PSD-95-dependent synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus contributes to the persistence of fear memories.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. ER -