[A study on the role and mechanism of intracellular Ca2+ in the central nervous system].
When the stimuli by nerve impulses, neurotransmitters, hormones, peptides and growth factors are administered to the neurons, one of the responses of the nerve cells is the enhancement of Ca2+ influx and/or the release of Ca2+ from the intracellular storage site. Ca2+ may be related to several types of neuronal functions such as biosynthesis of neurotransmitters, stimulus-secretion coupling of neurotransmitters and hormones, microtubule assembly-disassembly cycle and many metabolic reactions. Although the precise molecular mechanism mediating the actions of Ca2+ in the brain remains to be elucidated, accumulating evidence suggests that the actions of Ca2+ are mediated through Ca2(+)-binding proteins. The role of troponin C, a Ca2(+)-binding protein, was extensively studied in the skeletal muscle first. Subsequently calmodulin, a ubiquitous Ca2(+)-binding protein, was found to be widely distributed in many tissues and to be involved in a variety of Ca2(+)-mediated cellular processes. In an attempt to elucidate Ca2+ actions in the central nervous system, we have been studying Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II) and calcineurin (Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase). These enzymes have many common substrates and, therefore, may be involved in the neuronal functions via phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of specific proteins.
Miyamoto
E
E
Department of Pharmacology, Kumamoto University Medical School, Japan.
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism; D019703:Calcineurin; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; D002148:Calmodulin-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000378:metabolism; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D013379:Substrate Specificity
D002148:Calmodulin-Binding Proteins; D011494:Protein Kinases; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; D019703:Calcineurin; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases; D002118:Calcium