A Revised View of the Role of CaMKII in Learning and Memory

Overview

Journal Nat Neurosci

Date 2024 Nov 18

PMID 39558039

Authors

Karl Ulrich Bayer

Karl Peter Giese

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The Ca/calmodulin (CaM)-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) plays a fundamental role in learning and possibly also in memory. However, current mechanistic models require fundamental revision. CaMKII autophosphorylation at Thr286 (pThr286) does not provide the molecular basis for long-term memory, as long believed. Instead, pThr286 mediates the signal processing required for induction of several distinct forms of synaptic plasticity, including Hebbian long-term potentiation and depression and non-Hebbian behavioral timescale synaptic plasticity. We discuss (i) the molecular computations by which CaMKII supports these diverse plasticity mechanisms, (ii) alternative CaMKII mechanisms that may contribute to the maintenance phase of LTP and (iii) the relationship of these mechanisms to behavioral learning and memory.

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