Molecular neurobiology for practicing psychiatrists, part 5: How a leucinezipper can turn on genes: immediate-early genes activate late-gene expression in the brain

Issue: Neurotransmitters activate genes that activate other genes; that is, neurotransmission can rapidly deploy a strike force of immediate-early gen es, like the first troops sent into combat. These early genes then combine to draft an army of genes to mobilize numerous important gene products that alter the function of a neuron targeted by a neurotransmitter.