Hormones and nutrients often induce genetic programs via signaling pathways that interface with gene-specific activators. Activation of the cAMP pathway, for example, stimulates cellular gene expression by means of the PKA-mediated phosphorylation of cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) at Ser-133. Here, we use genome-wide approaches to characterize target genes that are regulated by CREB in different cellular contexts. CREB was found to occupy Ϸ4,000 promoter sites in vivo, depending on the presence and methylation state of consensus cAMP response elements near the promoter. The profiles for CREB occupancy were very similar in different human tissues, and exposure to a cAMP agonist stimulated CREB phosphorylation over a majority of these sites. Only a small proportion of CREB target genes was induced by cAMP in any cell type, however, due in part to the preferential recruitment of the coactivator CREB-binding protein to those promoters. These results indicate that CREB phosphorylation alone is not a reliable predictor of target gene activation and that additional CREB regulatory partners are required for recruitment of the transcriptional apparatus to the promoter.cAMP ͉ cAMP-response element binding protein-binding protein ͉ DNA methylation T he concept of a transcription code that dictates gene expression by means of the concerted action of multiple promoter elements has served as a useful paradigm for understanding specificity in gene regulation. The ability of multiple transcription factors to recruit RNA polymerase II to the promoter by means of low affinity interactions with components of the transcriptional machinery has been documented extensively (1).By contrast with this model, other studies suggest that some activators per se are sufficient to mediate transcriptional responses to hormonal signals depending on the occupancy of relevant sites (1). Indeed, genome-wide studies comparing binding patterns of hepatic nuclear factors in the liver and endocrine pancreas indicate that selective occupancy may often explain how different genetic programs are activated in distinct cell types (2).The cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) family of activators stimulates cellular gene expression after phosphorylation at a conserved serine (Ser-133 in CREB1) in response to cAMP (3). Ser-133 phosphorylation promotes target gene activation in part by means of recruitment of the coactivator paralogs CREB-binding protein (CBP)͞p300 (4). Recruitment of CBP by phospho-CREB (P-CREB) appears sufficient for induction of cellular genes in response to cAMP (5, 6); in vitro transcription studies indicate that P-CREB is capable of promoting assembly of the transcriptional apparatus independent of other regulatory inputs (7).By contrast, some reports suggest that other upstream activators in addition to CREB are required for cellular gene induction by cAMP (8). Indeed, the notion that CREB coordinates with other transcription factors is supported by recent animal studies in which CREB appeared to elicit the expressi...

through a cAMP-dependent mechanism (Hui et al., John R. Yates III, 2 Hiroshi Takemori, 3, * 2003). The ability of GLP-1 to modulate islet cell gene

Cocaine addiction is characterized by a gradual loss of control over drug use, but molecular mechanisms regulating vulnerability to this process remain unclear. Here we report that microRNA-212 (miR-212) is upregulated in the dorsal striatum of rats with a history of extended access to cocaine. Striatal miR-212 decreases responsiveness to the motivational properties of cocaine by dramatically amplifying the stimulatory effects of the drug on CREB signaling. This action occurs through miR-212-enhanced Raf-1 activity, resulting in adenylyl cyclase sensitization and increased expression of the essential CREB co-activator TORC (Transducer of Regulated CREB; also known as CRTC). Our findings suggest that striatal miR-212 signaling plays a key role in determining vulnerability to cocaine addiction, reveal novel molecular regulators that control the complex actions of cocaine in brain reward circuitries, and provide an entirely new direction for the development of anti-addiction therapeutics based on modulation of noncoding RNAs.