Neuronal PAS domain-containing protein 4 (Npas4)

Transcription factor expressed in neurons of the brain which regulates the excitatory-inhibitory balance in neural circuits and is necessary for contextual memory in the hyppocampus (PubMed:18815592, PubMed:22194569, PubMed:23029555, PubMed:24201284, PubMed:24855953). Plays a crucial role in the structural and functional plasticity of neurons (PubMed:23172225).

Acts as an early-response transcription factor in both excitatory and inhibitory neurons, in which it triggers different but overlapping sets of late-response genes in both of these types of neurons, allowing the synapses that form on inhibitory and excitatory neurons to be modified by neuronal activity in a way specific to their function in a circuit, thereby facilitating appropriate circuit responses to sensory experience (PubMed:24201284, PubMed:24855953). In excitatory neurons, activates transcription of BDNF, which in turn controls the amount of GABA-releasing synapses that form on excitatory neurons, thereby promoting an increased variety of inhibitory synapses on excitatory neurons (PubMed:18815592, PubMed:22194569, PubMed:24201284).