CREB required for the stability of new and reactivated fear memories.

The cAMP-responsive element binding protein (CREB) family of transcription factors is thought to be critical in memory formation. To define the role of CREB in distinct memory processes, we derived transgenic mice with an inducible and reversible CREB repressor by fusing CREBS133A to a tamoxifen (TAM)-dependent mutant of an estrogen receptor ligand-binding domain (LBD). We found that CREB is crucial for the consolidation of long-term conditioned fear memories, but not for encoding, storage or retrieval of these memories.