Autophosphorylation of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) at threonine-286 produces Ca2+-independent kinase activity and has been proposed to be involved in induction of long-term potentiation by tetanic stimulation in the hippocampus. We have used an immunocytochemical method to visualize and quantify the pattern of autophosphorylation of CaMKII in hippocampal slices after...

Mechanisms underlying age-dependent changes of dendritic spines on striatal medium spiny neurons are poorly understood. Spinophilin is an F-actin- and protein phosphatase 1 (PP1)-binding protein that targets PP1 to multiple downstream effectors to modulate dendritic spine morphology and function. We found that calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) directly and indirectly assoc...

Background: Increased vascular smooth muscle cell motility results in neointimal formation. Results: CaMKII2 and Fyn physically interact and CaMKII2 activity regulates complex formation, Fyn activity, and motility. Conclusion: CaMKII2 and Fyn regulate VSM cell motility due to their physical and functional interaction. Significance: Coupling CaMKII2 and Fyn in VSM provides a defined mechanis...

Pathological remodeling of the myocardium is an integral part of the events that lead to heart failure (HF), which involves altered gene expression, disturbed signaling pathways and altered Ca2+ homeostasis and the players involved in this process. Of particular interest is the chronic activation of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) isoforms in heart, which further aggravate ...

Cytoskeletal and postsynaptic density (PSD) fractions from forebrain contain discrete spherical structures that are immunopositive for Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). Spherical structures viewed by rotary shadow electron microscopy have an average diameter of ;100 nm and, in distinction to postsynaptic densities, do not immunolabel for PSD-95. These structures were purified ...

The release of neurotransmitters, neurotrophins, and neuropeptides is modulated by Ca(2+) mobilization from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and activation of Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). Furthermore, when neuronal cultures are subjected to prolonged depolarization, presynaptic CaMKII redistributes from the cytoplasm to accumulate near active zones (AZs), a process that...

Ca/Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CamKII) is a multifunctional enzyme that is activated by increases in intracellular Ca. CaMKII is expressed in all tissues but is most abundant in the brain. Diversity in subunit composition and Ca sensitivity permit the coordination of multiple cellular functions including muscle contraction, synaptic vesicle release, proliferation and differentiation...

The calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) plays a key role in the induction of long-term postsynaptic modifications following calcium entry. Experiments suggest that these long-term synaptic changes are all-or-none switch-like events between discrete states. The biochemical network involving CaMKII and its regulating protein signaling cascade has been hypothesized to durably m...

Olomoucine is known as a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor. We found that olomoucine blocked insulin's ability to stimulate glucose transport. It did so without affecting the activity of known insulin signaling proteins. To identify the olomoucine-sensitive kinase(s), we prepared analogs that could be immobilized to an affinity resin to isolate binding proteins. One of the generated analogs inh...

While CaMKII has long been known to be essential for synaptic plasticity and learning, recent work points to new dimensions of CaMKII function in the nervous system, revealing that CaMKII also plays an important role in synaptic organization. Ca(2+)-triggered autophosphorylation of CaMKII not only provides molecular memory by prolonging CaMKII activity during long-term plasticity (LTP) and lear...