Proteolytic modification of neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) by the intracellular proteinase calpain.
The neural cell adhesion molecule, NCAM, is concentrated in synaptic regions and thus may contribute to the formation and maintenance of connections between brain cells. We present evidence that the cytoplasmic domain of NCAM can be experimentally modified by the intracellular calcium-dependent proteinase, calpain. This degradation could provide a mechanism for rapidly uncoupling and reorganizing synaptic contacts.
Sheppard
A
A
Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine.
Wu
J
J
Rutishauser
U
U
Lynch
G
G
D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002154:Calpain / Q000378:metabolism*; D015816:Cell Adhesion Molecules, Neuronal / Q000378:metabolism*; D002645:Chickens; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013570:Synaptic Membranes / Q000378:metabolism*
D015816:Cell Adhesion Molecules, Neuronal; D002154:Calpain