title: Mutational and biophysical studies suggest RC3/neurogranin regulates calmodulin availability.
abstract: RC3/neurogranin is a forebrain-enriched, postnatal-onset, thyroid hormone-dependent, protein kinase C substrate of dendritic spines that interacts with calmodulin. These characteristics suggest a prominent role within the Ca(2+)-mediated second messenger cascades associated with neonatal synaptogenesis and adult neural plasticity. To understand the molecular interactions between RC3 and calmodulin, we characterized recombinant RC3 and four sequence variants: Ser-36-->Ala, Ser-36-->Asp, Ser-36-->Lys, and Phe-37-->Trp. Interactions between CaM and variant Phe-37-->Trp can be monitored by fluorescence spectroscopy, allowing us to determine, by competitive assays, the relative affinities of the wild-type and variant proteins for calmodulin. The effects of salt and Ca2+ on the rank order of these affinities permit partial dissection of hydrophobic, ionic, and structural components of the RC3-CaM interaction and suggest that it is bimodal. We demonstrate that RC3 binds preferentially to CaM when Ca2+ is absent and that the addition of a negative charge to residue 36 is sufficient to disrupt all detectable RC3-CaM interactions. We propose a model wherein a Ca(2+)-"sensitive," bimodal interaction between RC3 and CaM regulates the transduction of postsynaptic Ca2+ fluxes into physiological responses through the modulation of Ca2+/CaM availability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037.
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Gerendasy
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Herron
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Sutcliffe
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002118:Calcium / Q000494:pharmacology; D002147:Calmodulin / Q000378:metabolism*; D002148:Calmodulin-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051579:Neurogranin; D017354:Point Mutation; D012685:Sepharose; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D002147:Calmodulin; D002148:Calmodulin-Binding Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D051579:Neurogranin; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D012685:Sepharose; D002118:Calcium