title: Diacylglycerol Kinases in the Coordination of Synaptic Plasticity.
abstract: Synaptic plasticity is activity-dependent modification of the efficacy of synaptic transmission. Although, detailed mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity are diverse and vary at different types of synapses, diacylglycerol (DAG)-associated signaling has been considered as an important regulator of many forms of synaptic plasticity, including long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD). Recent evidences indicate that DAG kinases (DGKs), which phosphorylate DAG to phosphatidic acid to terminate DAG signaling, are important regulators of LTP and LTD, as supported by the results from mice lacking specific DGK isoforms. This review will summarize these studies and discuss how specific DGK isoforms distinctly regulate different forms of synaptic plasticity at pre- and postsynaptic sites. In addition, we propose a general role of DGKs as coordinators of synaptic plasticity that make local synaptic environments more permissive for synaptic plasticity by regulating DAG concentration and interacting with other synaptic proteins.
authors.affiliation: Center for Synaptic Brain Dysfunctions, Institute for Basic Science Daejeon, South Korea.
authors.forename: Dongwon
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Center for Synaptic Brain Dysfunctions, Institute for Basic ScienceDaejeon, South Korea; Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and TechnologyDaejeon, South Korea.
authors.forename: Eunjoon
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Center for Functional Connectomics, Korea Institute of Science and Technology Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka-Yamamoto
keywords: diacylglycerol kinase; long-term depression; long-term potentiation; protein kinase C; synaptic plasticity