Transcriptional co-repressors and memory storage

•Co-repressors complexes coordinate chromatin remodeling and epigenetic modification of histones in the brain.•Co-repressors NCOR, NuRD, SIN3A, and CoREST are important for neural development and cognition.•Signal transduction pathways in neurons release co-repressors from the promoters of activity-regulated genes.

Epigenetic modifications are a central mechanism for regulating chromatin structure and gene expression in the brain. A wide array of histone- and DNA-modifying enzymes have been identified as critical regulators of neuronal function, memory formation, and as causative agents in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. Chromatin modifying enzymes are frequently incorporated into large multi-protein co-activator and co-repressor complexes, where the activity of multiple enzymes is both spatially and temporally coordinated. In this review, we discuss negative regulation of gene expression by co-repressor complexes, and the role of co-repressors and their binding partners in neuronal function, memory, and disease.This article is part of the Special Issue entitled ‘Neuroepigenetic Disorders’.