ArticleCell2018
The Neuronal Gene Arc Encodes a Repurposed Retrotransposon Gag Protein that Mediates Intercellular RNA Transfer.
Article in Cell, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 292 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
292 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 589 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
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- Advances in vehicles for in situ delivery: From classical vectors to biologically inspired structures.Synthetic and systems biotechnology · 2026Review
- Targeting the non-coding RNA-PANoptosis axis: a novel frontier in disease diagnosis and therapy.Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death · 2026Review
- SETDB1 modulates neuroinflammation in the mouse cortex by regulating neuronal P2rx7 expression.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
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- Ontogenetic Sequence of Differential Gene Expression in Predator-Induced Daphnia pulex.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Nanoscale Spatial Organization of ARC High- and Low-Order Assemblies at Excitatory Synapses.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- The Diagnostic and Therapeutic Value of Micro-RNA in Parkinson's Disease.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Evidence for dual pathways of Tc1/mariner domestication in Drosophila.BMC biology · 2026Article
- Engineering human PEG10-based nanoparticles for RNA self-packaging, delivery and cancer therapy.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Pseudogene revival drives repeated adaptation in fission yeast.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Genomic-microbial coevolution in human development: chromosome 2 fusion, and human accelerated regions.Mammalian genome : official journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society · 2026Review
- Integrated Symbiotic Pleiotropy: Long Non-Coding RNAs and Disordered Proteins Interweaving the Functional Layers of the Eukaryotic Cell.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- MCVAE-based multi-omic anomaly detection in Fragile X Syndrome.NAR molecular medicine · 2026Article
- A comprehensive annotation of conserved protein domains in human endogenous retroviruses.NAR genomics and bioinformatics · 2026Article
- A retroelement-derived mammalian ARC protein exhibits selective RNA recognition and nucleic acid chaperone functions.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Extracellular vesicle dysfunction contributes to synaptic and cognitive deficits in a mouse model of Angelman syndrome.Progress in neurobiology · 2026Article
232 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
13 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The neuronal gene Arc is essential for long-lasting information storage in the mammalian brain, mediates various forms of synaptic plasticity, and has been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders. However, little is known about Arc's molecular function and evolutionary origins. Here, we show that Arc self-assembles into virus-like capsids that encapsulate RNA. Endogenous Arc protein is released from neurons in extracellular vesicles that mediate the transfer of Arc mRNA into new target cells, where it can undergo activity-dependent translation. Purified Arc capsids are endocytosed and are able to transfer Arc mRNA into the cytoplasm of neurons. These results show that Arc exhibits similar molecular properties to retroviral Gag proteins. Evolutionary analysis indicates that Arc is derived from a vertebrate lineage of Ty3/gypsy retrotransposons, which are also ancestors to retroviruses. These findings suggest that Gag retroelements have been repurposed during evolution to mediate intercellular communication in the nervous system.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.