Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II and potassium channel subunit eag similarly affect plasticity in Drosophila.
Similar defects in both synaptic transmission and associative learning are produced in Drosophila melanogaster by inhibition of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II and mutations in the potassium channel subunit gene eag. These behavioral and synaptic defects are not simply additive in animals carrying both an eag mutation and a transgene for a protein kinase inhibitor, raising the possibility that the phenotypes share a common pathway. At the molecular level, a portion of the putative cytoplasmic domain of Eag is a substrate of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. These similarities in behavior and synaptic physiology, the genetic interaction, and the in vitro biochemical interaction of the two molecules suggest that an important component of neural and behavioral plasticity may be mediated by modulation of Eag function by calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II.
Griffith
L C
LC
Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02254.
Wang
J
J
Zhong
Y
Y
Wu
C F
CF
Greenspan
R J
RJ
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D051638:Ether-A-Go-Go Potassium Channels; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007814:Larva; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000502:physiology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D010766:Phosphorylation; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D051638:Ether-A-Go-Go Potassium Channels; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D015221:Potassium Channels; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C496883:eag protein, Drosophila; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases