Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.11.17 (CaMKII)
 4,029 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have used monolayers of parental 3T3 fibroblasts and 3T3 cells expressing transfected cell adhesion molecules (CAMs, NCAM, N-cadherin, or L1) as a culture substrate for cerebellar neurons. Previous studies suggest that the transfected CAMs promote neurite outgrowth by activating a second messenger pathway within the responding neuron that involves influx of calcium into neurons as a consequence of activation of an FGF receptor. The same neurite outgrowth response can be induced by FGF or a number of agents that directly activate defined steps in the CAM signaling pathway. In the present study we show that the neurite outgrowth stimulated by the above three CAMs, FGF, arachidonic acid (AA), and K+ depolarization can be abolished by the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent (CaM) kinase inhibitor, KN-62. We also demonstrate that neurite outgrowth over astrocytes, which represent a more physiologically relevant cellular substrate, can be substantially inhibited by a number of agents that block the CAM signaling pathway, including KN-62. However, neurite outgrowth induced by activation of protein kinase A is unaffected by inhibition of CaM kinase activity as is basal neurite outgrowth over 3T3 monolayers or a polylysine/laminin substrate. These results suggest that CaM kinase activity is specifically required downstream of calcium influx in the CAM and FGF signaling pathway leading to axonal growth.
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PMID:A Ca2+/calmodulin kinase inhibitor, KN-62, inhibits neurite outgrowth stimulated by CAMs and FGF. 759 59

NCAM, a neural cell adhesion molecule of the immunoglobulin superfamily, is involved in neuronal migration and differentiation, axon outgrowth and fasciculation, and synaptic plasticity. To dissociate the functional roles of NCAM in the adult brain from developmental abnormalities, we generated a mutant in which the NCAM gene is inactivated by cre-recombinase under the control of the calcium-calmodulin-dependent kinase II promoter, resulting in reduction of NCAM expression predominantly in the hippocampus. This mutant (NCAMff+) did not show the overt morphological and behavioral abnormalities previously observed in constitutive NCAM-deficient (NCAM-/-) mice. However, similar to the NCAM-/- mouse, a reduction in long-term potentiation (LTP) in the CA1 region of the hippocampus was revealed. Long-term depression was also abolished in NCAMff+ mice. The deficit in LTP could be rescued by elevation of extracellular Ca2+ concentrations from 1.5 or 2.0 to 2.5 mm, suggesting an involvement of NCAM in regulation of Ca2+-dependent signaling during LTP. Contrary to the NCAM-/- mouse, LTP in the CA3 region was normal, consistent with normal mossy fiber lamination in NCAMff+ as opposed to abnormal lamination in NCAM-/- mice. NCAMff+ mutants did not show general deficits in short- and long-term memory in global landmark navigation in the water maze but were delayed in the acquisition of precise spatial orientation, a deficit that could be overcome by training. Thus, mice conditionally deficient in hippocampal NCAM expression in the adult share certain abnormalities characteristic of NCAM-/- mice, highlighting the role of NCAM in the regulation of synaptic plasticity in the CA1 region.
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PMID:Conditional ablation of the neural cell adhesion molecule reduces precision of spatial learning, long-term potentiation, and depression in the CA1 subfield of mouse hippocampus. 1497 28