title: Neurogranin phosphorylation fine-tunes long-term potentiation.
abstract: Learning-related potentiation of synaptic strength at Cornu ammonis subfield 1 (CA1) hippocampal excitatory synapses is dependent on neuronal activity and the activation of glutamate receptors. However, molecular mechanisms that regulate and fine-tune the expression of long-term potentiation (LTP) are not well understood. Recently it has been indicated that neurogranin (Ng), a neuron-specific, postsynaptic protein that is phosphorylated by protein kinase C, potentiates synaptic transmission in an LTP-like manner. Here, we report that a Ng mutant that is unable to be phosphorylated cannot potentiate synaptic transmission in rat CA1 hippocampal neurons and results in a submaximal expression of LTP. Our results provide the first evidence that the phosphorylation of Ng can regulate LTP expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Kanwardeep S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kaleka
authors.forename: Nashaat Z
authors.initials: NZ
authors.lastname: Gerges
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D056547:CA1 Region, Hippocampal / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D051579:Neurogranin / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D051381:Rats; D013569:Synapses / Q000378:metabolism; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D051579:Neurogranin