Synaptic tagging - Who's it?

A synaptic tag transiently marks a synapse after activation in a way that allows the local recognition of transcriptional products to effect an enduring change in transmission efficiency. The idea of the synaptic tag as a single molecule might be misguided; instead, a process such as activation of local translation or cytoskeletal reorganization could mark a synapse. A change of this nature might be modulated directly or indirectly by transcriptional products that, for example, modulate translational activity, mRNA stability or protein degradation, or are ensconced in a cytoskeletal configuration, and thereby lead to long-term changes in synaptic strength.