I remember it was a beautiful New York afternoon in the spring of 2001, the bright sunlight rippling off the Hudson River outside my office windows, when Kausik walked into my office and asked, “What would you say if I told you that the CPEB has prion-like properties?” A wild idea! But if true, it could explain how long-term memory is maintained in synapses indefinitely, despite constant protein degradation and turnover. Clearly, a self-perpetuating molecule could remain at a synapse indefinitely, regulating the local protein synthesis needed to maintain newly grown synaptic terminals.
