title: Calpains: Master Regulators of Synaptic Plasticity.
abstract: Although calpain was proposed to participate in synaptic plasticity and learning and memory more than 30 years ago, the mechanisms underlying its activation and the roles of different substrates have remained elusive. Recent findings have provided evidence that the two major calpain isoforms in the brain, calpain-1 and calpain-2, play opposite functions in synaptic plasticity. In particular, while calpain-1 activation is the initial trigger for certain forms of synaptic plasticity, that is, long-term potentiation, calpain-2 activation restricts the extent of plasticity. Moreover, while calpain-1 rapidly cleaves regulatory and cytoskeletal proteins, calpain-2-mediated stimulation of local protein synthesis reestablishes protein homeostasis. These findings have important implications for our understanding of learning and memory and disorders associated with impairment in these processes.
authors.affiliation: 1 KU Leuven, Center for Human Genetics and Leuven Institute for Neuroscience and Disease, Leuven, Belgium.|2 VIB Center for the Biology of Disease, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Briz
authors.affiliation: 3 Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baudry
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002154:Calpain / Q000378:metabolism*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002154:Calpain
keywords: calpain; cytoskeleton; learning and memory; local protein synthesis; synaptic plasticity