- Liau, Wei-Siang;
- Zhao, Qiongyi;
- Bademosi, Adekunle;
- Gormal, Rachel;
- Gong, Hao;
- Marshall, Paul;
- Periyakaruppiah, Ambika;
- Madugalle, Sachithrani;
- Zajaczkowski, Esmi;
- Leighton, Laura;
- Ren, Haobin;
- Musgrove, Mason;
- Davies, Joshua;
- Rauch, Simone;
- He, Chuan;
- Dickinson, Bryan;
- Li, Xiang;
- Wei, Wei;
- Meunier, Frédéric;
- Fernández-Moya, Sandra;
- Kiebler, Michael;
- Srinivasan, Balakumar;
- Banerjee, Sourav;
- Clark, Michael;
- Bredy, Timothy;
- Spitale, Robert
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) represent a multidimensional class of regulatory molecules that are involved in many aspects of brain function. Emerging evidence indicates that lncRNAs are localized to the synapse; however, a direct role for their activity in this subcellular compartment in memory formation has yet to be demonstrated. Using lncRNA capture-seq, we identified a specific set of lncRNAs that accumulate in the synaptic compartment within the infralimbic prefrontal cortex of adult male C57/Bl6 mice. Among these was a splice variant related to the stress-associated lncRNA, Gas5. RNA immunoprecipitation followed by mass spectrometry and single-molecule imaging revealed that this Gas5 isoform, in association with the RNA binding proteins G3BP2 and CAPRIN1, regulates the activity-dependent trafficking and clustering of RNA granules. In addition, we found that cell-type-specific, activity-dependent, and synapse-specific knockdown of the Gas5 variant led to impaired fear extinction memory. These findings identify a new mechanism of fear extinction that involves the dynamic interaction between local lncRNA activity and RNA condensates in the synaptic compartment.