On December 2, 2025, the research team led by Yin Dongmin from the Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University / Affiliated Changning Mental Health Center of East China Normal University published a research paper titled "Dynamic regulation of mRNA acetylation at synapses by spatial memory in mouse hippocampus" online in eLife, a journal indexed in the Nature Index and ranked Q1 by CAS.

This study is the first to identify mRNAs modified by N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C) in mouse hippocampal tissue and reveals that these modifications dynamically change with spatial memory in synaptic fractions (SYN). Further investigations demonstrate that the ac4C "writer" enzyme NAT10 regulates local protein synthesis to participate in synaptic plasticity and memory consolidation. This research uncovers a novel epitranscriptional mechanism underlying learning and memory, enriching the understanding of RNA modification functions in the nervous system.

East China Normal University served as the first completing institution for the paper. Zhou Haiqian, Zhu Zhen, and Zhang Jiawei are the co-first authors of the paper. Liu Shuai, a researcher from the Affiliated Changning Mental Health Center of East China Normal University, and Professor Yin Dongmin from the Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, are the co-corresponding authors. Full text link: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.108995.1.sa3