CALCIUM CALMODULIN-DEPENDENT PROTEIN KINASE II (CAMKII) VERSATILE PLAYER FOR SYNAPTIC PLASTICITY

Calcium ions (Ca2+) play significant role in signal transduction pathways. Ca2+ signaling is mediated through several Ca2+-binding proteins, including calmodulin (CaM). CaM is a regulatory protein that modulate the activity of several signaling molecules those are crucial for synaptic plasticity including Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase or (CaM kinase II). CaMKII is a multifunctional signaling protein that comprises 1%–2% of the protein in brain. Due to its extraordinary abundance within neuronal cells, CaMKII has been believed to act as both a structural protein as well as an enzyme during synaptic plasticity. CaMKII is a key synaptic signaling protein, and involved in numerous forms of synaptic plasticity such as LTP. CaMKII has been one of the most extensively studied signaling protein that play a pivotal role in various forms of synaptic plasticity and memory in hippocampal and other neurons. The studies have shown CaMKII is involved in numerous forms of synaptic plasticity including long-term potentiation (LTP), long-term depression (LTD) and short-term potentiation (STP). These all form of plasticity forms the basis for learning, memory and cognition.