Cholinergic Stress and Anxiety Signals involveAlternative Splicing

Ever since the human genome project has beencompleted, it became clear that a surprisingly smallnumber of human genes generated the immense diversityof proteins composing our body. Alternative splicinghas emerged as a key explanation for this expandeddiversity. This cut-and-paste mechanism can yieldnumerous proteins from one gene, depending on thecell type, its development state and the externalenvironment. Of note, both normal aging andpsychological stress reactions modify the alternativesplicing process in brain neurons, and miss-splicingof alternative genomic sequences is increasinglyrecognized as a frequent cause and consequence ofhuman disease, especially in the nervous system. Inthis book we describe research work in which weexplored the role(s) of alternative splicing incontrolling neuronal development andneurotransmission processes and in altering behavior,using recent techniques in molecular genetics andtransgenic engineering. By linking genes, proteinsand behavioral concepts together, a futureapplication could be the development of a blood testdiagnostic application for the assessment of one'sanxiety level at the time of measurement.